The future of the highly anticipated Blum’s airdrop is now uncertain following the arrest of co-founder Vladimir Smerkis in Moscow on charges related to large-scale fraud.
Blum Airdrop Uncertain After Vladimir Smerkis Detained Over Fraud Charges
Russian media outlet TASS reported that Smerkis, who once headed Binance’s operations in Russia and the CIS region, was taken into custody by authorities last Friday. The arrest happened under a criminal investigation of alleged large-scale fraud. However, note that official charges have not been publicly disclosed yet. Sources suggest the case could be tied to Smerkis’ involvement in previous ventures, including The Token Fund and Tokenbox, both of which attracted significant investment before fading from the spotlight.
In response to the news, Blum moved swiftly to distance itself from Smerkis. The project announced via X on Saturday that he has resigned from his role as Chief Marketing Officer and is no longer involved in any capacity with the company.
Blum, which gained early traction via Binance Labs’ Most Valuable Builder program, launched its gamified “Drop Game” in May 2024. The game allowed users to collect “Blum Points” by clicking on falling snowflakes on their phone screens, and also promised an eventual conversion of those points into BLUM tokens via an airdrop. Despite ongoing promotions and multiple “seasons” of point farming, users are still waiting for the long-promised token generation event.
The Drop Game officially ended on May 14, and the airdrop is now tentatively scheduled for the second quarter of 2025. However, Smerkis’ arrest has fueled skepticism within the community about whether the token launch will move forward as planned.
In a recent X post, Blum reiterated its commitment to the project:
“We thank Vladimir for his contribution to the project and wish him well. Our team remains focused on delivering our goals, and operations continue as usual.”
Still, confidence appears shaken. One user on X wrote, “Blum owes its users a clarification on the planned airdrop,” while crypto influencer RK Gupta added:
“No airdrop. No updates. Just silence. Was it all for nothing?”
Blum previously hinted that the BLUM token might be listed as early as Q3 2025, but with leadership changes and rising community doubts, the project’s planned roadmap may face serious delays.
In a similar instance, Alex Mashinsky, the founder and former CEO of Celsius Network, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Thursday for orchestrating a massive fraud that contributed to the collapse of this crypto lending platform.
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