According to Bits.media, the Presnensky District Court in Moscow has sentenced Vladimir Smerkis, former head of Binance Russia and co-founder of the Blum cryptocurrency platform, to five years in prison. The court found him guilty of massive fraud involving an amount exceeding 8.8 million rubles. The prosecution alleges that in June 2024, trader and crypto blogger Oleg Polunin requested Smerkis to drive traffic to his social media, but Smerkis failed to fulfill his promise after charging fees and diverted the funds for personal use. The judgment has not yet taken effect and can be appealed.