Vladimir Smerkis, a co-founder of the cryptocurrency game Blum and former leader of the CIS division at Binance, has been arrested in Moscow on suspicion of engaging in fraudulent activities. The Zamoskvoretsky District Court has ordered his detention, but the specific details of the alleged crimes have not been made public.

Blum gained popularity as part of the "tap-to-earn" trend, where players tap their screens to earn digital tokens. In the case of Blum, players tapped falling snowflakes to accumulate in-game currency that purportedly could be converted into real money. Amid mounting scrutiny surrounding tap-to-earn platforms, Blum has distanced itself from Smerkis, clarifying in a statement to its 5.3 million X (Twitter) followers that he is no longer involved in the company.

The rise of tap-to-earn games gained global attention after the success of Hamster Kombat in 2024, which conducted a significant token airdrop, the most extensive in the cryptocurrency industry so far. Blum swiftly emerged as one of numerous tap-to-earn projects. Currently, the tap-to-earn sector holds a market capitalization of $511 million, based on data from CoinGecko.