Beyond Blockchain

@etfs The music-on-profile feature is a game changer. Turning Telegram into more of a social hub, not just a messenger. People will literally build identity around playlists, just like old-school MySpace vibes but modern.

This is the classic Web3 challenge: cultural brand is thriving, token isn’t. The real test is whether Pudgy can turn mainstream reach into sustainable token demand, not just merch + vibes.

This isn’t just a numbers game — it’s a shift in strategy. Apple relies on ecosystem lock-in, while Huawei is winning with broader accessibility and new features. If Huawei can start building brand appeal in markets outside of China, Apple may struggle to regain its crown quickly.

Even if the first runs are slower, I see this as progress. It took years of delays just to get these trains on the rails, and now at least there’s momentum. The infrastructure projects are already in the pipeline, and once they finish, the U.S. could finally have a high-speed corridor to be proud of. It’s not perfect, but it’s a start.

Not just viruses anymore — tomorrow, AI could be generating malware faster than humans can patch it. Time for proactive defense.

Python smart contracts, fiat + digital assets, KYC baked in… Google is building a Web3 for banks, not crypto traders.

The Musk-Zuck saga just hit AI. Board says no, but the courtroom drama keeps getting juicier. 🧠

Tesla’s slump looks bad on paper, but I wouldn’t call it game over yet. They still have unmatched software, charging infrastructure, and brand loyalty. Yes, BYD is growing fast — but Tesla has bounced back before when people doubted them. If the next-gen Model 2 or refreshed Model Y launches on time, Tesla could easily regain momentum in Europe. The question is whether they can move fast enough before BYD cements its lead.

Pop Mart is printing money off pure FOMO, and I’m not sure how sustainable it is long-term. Paying $22.99 for a 10 cm toy with a 1/168 chance of a rare feels more like gambling than collecting. Sure, the hype is insane right now, but once the novelty wears off, will people still be paying luxury prices for plastic figurines? It’s fun, but definitely not for everyone’s wallet.

Nasdaq tools spotting spoofing and wash trading in crypto isn’t a bad thing — transparency keeps markets healthy. The problem is where regulators take it next. Combine CFTC surveillance with the Treasury’s idea of mandatory digital IDs inside DeFi smart contracts, and suddenly the whole permissionless ethos gets flipped on its head. The real question: can crypto survive once every wallet has to be a “verified” wallet? Or will this just push innovation + liquidity offshore again?

Nasdaq tools spotting spoofing and wash trading in crypto isn’t a bad thing — transparency keeps markets healthy. The problem is where regulators take it next. Combine CFTC surveillance with the Treasury’s idea of mandatory digital IDs inside DeFi smart contracts, and suddenly the whole permissionless ethos gets flipped on its head. The real question: can crypto survive once every wallet has to be a “verified” wallet? Or will this just push innovation + liquidity offshore again?

This is one of the most fascinating narratives we’ve heard around crypto adoption. When Eric says “banks failed us,” it echoes what many in this space have experienced: debanking, arbitrary closures, weaponization of financial rails. For average crypto users, it’s usually compliance issues or AML overreach. For the Trump family, it was politics. Either way, the lesson is the same: control over your money is fragile when intermediaries can flip a switch. Whether you agree with their politics or not, the shift from forced reliance on small banks → to stablecoins, tokenized assets, and BTC mining feels like the most “real-world” case study of why crypto exists in the first place. That being said, the overlap between “freedom pitch” and “profit empire” is undeniable. It’s a survival story that turned into a billion-dollar family business.

This case really exposes the clash between free expression and state control in Europe. If platforms like Telegram are held liable for every misuse by criminals, then no communication tool is safe — by that logic, you could arrest Tim Berners-Lee for websites or Jack Dorsey for Twitter trolls. Durov’s point about French police ignoring proper EU request channels is critical; if they didn’t follow the legal framework, then the entire basis of this prosecution looks shaky. It’s less about Durov himself and more about whether Europe wants to build an innovation hub or scare away every founder with criminal liability risk.

No doubt Powell’s dovish tone gave Wall Street the green light, but it’s worth watching how this narrative plays out beyond the first pump. Yes, cheaper credit and lower bond yields = bullish tailwinds for stocks and crypto. But inflation is still sticky at 2.7%, and the Fed can only cut so far without risking credibility. For traders, the message is clear: momentum is back, liquidity is back, but so is volatility. Ride the trend, but don’t forget — Powell’s words move markets fast, and the same voice that pumped risk assets today could spook them tomorrow.

This story reminds us that the issue isn’t just bad personal choices — it’s a system engineered to maximize losses. The constant push notifications, the bonus offers, the “near miss” mechanics — all of it is designed to hook people deeper. The shame factor only makes it worse, because most who spiral into debt won’t speak up until it’s too late. We treat gambling like entertainment, but in reality it’s a financial product with life-changing downside. Until we address that contradiction, we’ll keep hearing more Ethans — each one a warning that we’re failing to protect people from an addiction dressed up as sport.

I get the bubble warnings, but this feels more like early Amazon than Pets.com. Sure, compute costs are heavy — but that’s exactly why the moat is so strong. Very few companies can even afford to play at OpenAI’s scale. Hitting $1B/month means real demand exists, not just hype. And Altman’s “trillions for data centers” comment sounds wild now, but so did “everyone will be buying books online” in 1999. AI is already embedding itself into finance, healthcare, logistics, creative work — this isn’t a fad. Long term, the players who survive the cost wars could literally define the next trillion-dollar wave of infrastructure. As an investor, I’d rather hold through the volatility than risk missing that paradigm shift.

I know the price stings, but I’d still go Team Fold. Why? The 8" Super Actua inner screen basically replaces my tablet. For people who live in docs, multitasking, charts, or even just Netflix binges, that extra screen real estate is worth it. And the fact it’s packing the Tensor G5, Gemini Nano, and dual selfie cams (outer + inner) shows Google is taking the foldable seriously this round. Pixelsnap wireless charging is just the cherry on top. Honestly, we all laughed at the first Galaxy Fold too — now it’s a whole category. If Google nails durability, the Fold could be the phone that finally makes foldables mainstream.

I think this highlights the gap between hype vs. adoption maturity. The 5% of companies seeing measurable ROI weren’t “early adopters,” they were “early integrators” — they invested in teaching staff, adapting workflows, and retraining models. Everyone else basically did AI theater: splashy pilots, no long-term structure. If AI budgets keep going into pilots that don’t scale, we’ll see more $30B write-offs. But if firms double down on custom builds + training, that’s where the next productivity wave comes from.

The “AI bubble” talk makes sense, but the bigger concern to me is the concentration of power. Altman admits OpenAI has more advanced models it won’t release due to compute limits. That’s partly technical, but it’s also about control. If only a handful of companies have the resources to train and deploy frontier AI, then innovation bottlenecks around those gatekeepers. The trillion-dollar data center comment is also staggering. Who’s going to finance that scale of investment? And what’s the environmental cost of running those facilities at the power levels required? The dot-com boom left us with fiber-optic cables and broadband that fueled decades of growth. The AI boom might leave us with massive energy demands and hardware dependencies unless it’s managed carefully. So yes, AI is transformative, but the “bubble” narrative shouldn’t distract from the harder questions: who controls the models, who pays for the infrastructure, and who bears the costs if this all scales too fast?