14/06/2024
Society had barely recovered from the "trend" with Hamster Kombat when new "projects" infiltrated the Ukrainian information space. This time, it's about Blum.
Molfar established that the "crypto-taping" game Blum is a Russian product. Its owners have worked at mail.ru, spoken at conferences in Russia, and paid taxes to Russian Federation.
We have previously explained why you should not read "Trukha." Today, we once again emphasize that this public page is harmful, and as proof, the advertisement for the "project" Blum urges people to "jump in as quickly as possible." However, the advertisement post does not mention a single word about Russian owners.
A screenshot of the promotional post about Blum in the “Trukha” Telegram channel.
Moreover, a speaker discusses Blum's advantages in the video published by Trukha, along with the post's text. This speaker is Vladimir Yurievich Smerkis (Russian: Владимир Смеркис Юрьевич), co-founder and executive director of Blum. He is Russian.
What is Blum?
Blum is a cryptocurrency exchange that supports over 30 blockchain platforms. It created the TG tapper type game BlumCryptoBot. In short, users can press a button and receive rewards this way. Additionally, they are offered to "earn" extra rewards through light games.
The format is similar to Humster Kombat, just like this is a Russian product.
According to the Privacy and Policy, the app is operated by the legal entity Blum Labs Inc (likely registered on March 27, 2024, in Panama).
Blum was founded by Gleb Kostaryov, who worked as the head of Binance in Russia and the "CIS" (1, 2), and co-founder and partner Vladimir Smerkis, whom we will discuss in more detail below. Vladimir Maslyakov, the former founder of the Exante, is the lead developer of the Blum project.
The article also mentions that Smerkis has been involved in "several controversial projects that raise questions about transparency and reliability." This likely refers to the crypto investment project Tokenbox.io. Maslyakov has also been "criticized for involvement in dubious projects," Kostaryov has faced rumors about conflicts at Binance, which is why he left the company.
In March 2024, Binance Labs selected Blum in the 7th round of its startup accelerator program.
The owners of Blum are Russian. Who Vladimir Smerkis is?
If you look at Smerkis's profile on LinkedIn, besides his "successful success," it is easy to see that he is Russian, even though he states that he lives in Dubai.
Screenshot from Smerkis's LinkedIn profile
He studied at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics. Before founding Blum, he worked at the cryptocurrency exchange Binance as General Manager of Russia and General Manager of CIS (1, 2, 3). It also appears that Smerkis worked at Mail.Ru Group, where he was the Deputy Vice President for International Development.
Vladimir Smerkis likes speaking at various conferences in Russia. For example, in April 2024, he gave a lecture (1, 2) at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.
He is also among the scheduled speakers at the "Tech Week" conference, which will take place from June 26 to 28 in Moscow, at "Skolkovo." He plans to discuss how Russia can position itself in the global cryptocurrency market.
A screenshot from the conference website, where Smerkis is among the speakers
Smerkis is also the author of a book about creating startups titled "Silicon Valleys" and a podcast of the same name, with most of its traffic coming from Russia and Georgia.
Vladimir Smerkis is an individual entrepreneur in Russia working in the IT sector. He is also a co-founder of the active legal entity LLC "Hello Bot," which includes Yakov Sergeyevich Akhtyamov (Russian: Ахтямов Яков Сергеевич), a financial manager, and Anton Sergeyevich Kopylov (Russian: Копылов Антон Сергеевич).
As of February 2024, this legal entity has a tax debt of 2,000 rubles. The last time they paid taxes was in 2018.
Until July 2023, Smerkis was part of the legal entity LLC "Internet Postavka," whose revenue amounted to 21.9 million rubles in 2023.
Contacts of Blum founders
Vladimir Yurievich Smerkis
Date of birth: 25.06.1984
Contacts: +79065415212, +79163447722 (probable), +79262292952
[email protected], [email protected],
Passport of the Russian Federation: 4515127200
TIN of the Russian Federation: 772270320369
SNIOR: 14018597148.
Gleb Viktorovich Kostarev
Date of birth: September 11, 1990
Contacts: +79132289175, [email protected]
Passport of the Russian Federation: 4510973638
TIN of the Russian Federation: 771595979410
Hamster Kombat, Mellstroy, and Russian traffic police
Caruzo Apps publishes the game on the Google Play. They are also the publishers of Hamster ComboPvP Kombat (Google Play) and Smurf Cat, a game referencing the Russian meme "Shaylushay" (Google Play).
The URL for Blum on Google Play includes com.mellstroy.table. This is likely an "Easter egg" referencing the Belarusian-Russian trash blogger Mellstroy, who hit a girl's head against a table during a stream, streams online casinos, and conducts online broadcasts with Russian rappers. Previously, a game with this URL was called Mellstroy The Game — Mellstroy, and the description offered to "achieve heights" in the life of Andrey Burim "Mellstroy."
The URL of the Hamster Combo: PvP Kombat app contains "com.gibddmreo." This is also found in the URL of the Russian "GIBDD MREO" app on Google Play. As of June 2024, this link leads to the game.
As we can see, a Russian product attempts to infiltrate the Ukrainian public space, luring with unobtrusive entertainment and promising easy rewards. Again, we urge everyone to be cautious and vigilant about the content published on telegram-pages like "Trukha" and to check the "free cheese in the mousetrap," as it might smell like Russia.
