Vladimir Smerkis, a former Binance executive and co-founder of the crypto firm Blum, was arrested in Moscow on May 19, 2025, in connection with a large-scale fraud investigation. Authorities allege that the fraud involved losses exceeding $15 million. Smerkis had recently stepped down as Blum's Chief Marketing Officer prior to his detention. His past ventures include Tokenbox and The Token Fond. Separately, on May 20, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against New York-based Unicoin and three of its executives, including CEO Alex Konanykhin and Silvina Moschini. The SEC alleges that Unicoin issued token-related rights certificates and stocks through false statements, defrauding over 5,000 investors. The SEC claims Unicoin misrepresented its crypto token as being backed by billions in real estate, while in reality, the company raised approximately $110 million.