Gambling Is An Addiction & The Internet Starts ‘Em Young
January 8, 2026
Robert Custer was a psychiatrist who promoted the theory that gambling addition was a mental disorder. His pioneering research is the basis for modern treatments of gambling disorder. Since Custer’s prime in the 1970s and 1980s, gambling has exploded, not just with brick and mortar casinos, but also online gambling and expansion of mobile sports betting. Science News discusses the rising tide of online gambling in the article, “As Gambling Addiction Spreads, One Scientist’s Work Reveals Timely Insights.”
Custer’s research is more relevant now than ever especially as the behavior is nurtured in kids from the moment they can hold a mobile device. Custer fought to include the disorder in the DSM and he succeeded:
“Custer argued that pathological gambling was not just a matter of an individual’s building and releasing tension. Rather, pathological gambling followed a progressive course from slightly unhealthy gambling behaviors to increasingly problematic wagering with tangible financial and social consequences. As a result, the committee incorporated the common consequences Custer saw in his clinical experience — such as defaulting on debts, borrowing money and struggling with family relationships — as diagnostic criteria to better identify those suffering. So, while pathological gambling remained alongside impulse control disorders in the DSM-III, its description and diagnostic criteria more closely mirrored the way the manual approached substance use disorders.”
Kids become addicted to online games that mimic the same dopamine release that gamblers experience. Social media giants are huge enablers of this behavior but so is Telegram. Telegram wants to hook the kids young so they’ll be addicted until the day they fall into a hole. It’s despicable and makes you want to toss a kid outside with a ball and stick. Go outside!
Whitney Grace, January 8, 2025
Telegram Notes: Occasional Observations
December 29, 2025
![green-dino_thumb_thumb[3]_thumb](https://www.arnoldit.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/green-dino_thumb_thumb3_thumb-1.gif "green-dino_thumb_thumb[3]_thumb")
Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
My new Telegram Notes’ service is coming along. Watch Beyond Search for a link to the stories. We will post a short summary of a story in Beyond Search which I have producing since 2008. The longer Telegram Notes’ essays will appear in the new service. We are testing a couple of options. We have a masthead. The art was produced by Google and Venice smart software. If you know nothing about Telegram, its Messenger Service, or its new financial services, the illustration won’t make much sense. If you know a bit about Telegram, you will know about the GOAT. The references to crypto and other content are references to allegations about the content on the platform.
The working version of the Telegram Notes’ masthead. Thanks, AI services. You are good enough.
Beyond Search will continue to host new articles in our traditional format. However, as we figure out how to best use our time, the flow of stories is likely to be uneven. (Personally I love the GOAT picture. But what’s that on the information highway beneath the GOAT? Probably nothing.
Stephen E Arnold, December 29, 2025
Telegram Notes: Manny, Snoop, and Millions in Minutes
December 24, 2025
Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
In the mass of information my team and I gathered for my new study “The Telegram Labyrinth,” we saw several references to what may be an interesting intersection of Manuel (Manny) Stotz, a hookah company in the Middle East, Snoop Dog (the musical luminary), and Telegram.
At some point in Mr. Stotz’ financial career, he acquired an interest in a company doing business as Advanced Inhalation Rituals or AIR. This firm owned or had an interest in a hookah manufacturer doing business as Al Fakher. By chance, Mr. Stotz interacted with Mr. Snoop Dog. As the two professionals discussed modern business, Mr. Stotz suggested that Mr. Snoop Dog check out Telegram.
Thanks, Venice.ai. I needed smoke coming out of the passenger side window, but smoke existing through the roof is about right for smart software.
Telegram allowed Messenger users to create non fungible tokens. Mr. Snoop Dog thought this was a very interesting idea. In July 2025, Mr. Snoop Dogg
I found the anecdotal Manny Stotz information in social media and crypto centric online services suggestive but not particularly convincing and rarely verifiable.
One assertion did catch my attention. The Snoop Dogg NFT allegedly generated US$12 million in 30 minutes. Is the number in “Snoop Dogg Rakes in $12M in 30 Minutes with Telegram NFT Drop” on the money? I have zero clue. I don’t even know if the release of the NFT or drop took place. Let’s go to the write up:
Snoop Dogg is back in the web3 spotlight, this time partnering with Telegram to launch the messaging app’s first celebrity digital collectibles drop. According to Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, the launch generated $12 million in sales, with nearly 1 million items sold out in just 30 minutes. While the items aren’t minted yet, users purchased the collectibles internally on Telegram, with minting on The Open Network (TON) scheduled to go live later this month [July 2025].
Is this important? It depends on one’s point of view. As an 81 year old dinobaby, I find the comments online about this alleged NFT for a popular musician not too surprising. I have several other dinobaby observations to offer, of course:
- Mr. Stotz allegedly owns shares in a company (possibly more than 50 percent or more of the outfit) that does business in the UAE and other countries where hookahs are popular. That’s AIR.
- Mr. Stotz worked for a short time a a senior manager at the TON Foundation. That’s an organization allegedly 100 percent separate from Telegram. That’s the totally independent, Swiss registered TON Foundation, not to be confused with the other TON Foundation in Abu Dhabi. (I wonder why there are two Telegram linked foundations. Maybe someone will look into that? Perhaps these are legal conventions or something akin to Trojan horses? This dinobaby does not know.
- By happenstance, Mr. Snoop Dogg learned about Telegram NFTs and at the same time Mr. Stotz was immersed in activities related to the Foundation and its new NASDAQ listed property TON Strategy Company, the NFT spun up and then moved forward allegedly.
- Does a regulatory entity monitor and levy tax on the sale of NFTs within Telegram? I mean Mr. Snoop Dogg resides in America. Mr. Stotz resides allegedly in London. The TON Foundation which “runs” the TON blockchain is in United Arab Emirates, and Mr. Pavel Durov is an AirBnB type of entrepreneur — this question of paying taxes is probably above my pay grade which is US$0.00.
One simple question I have is, “Does Mr. Snoop Dogg have an Al Faker hookah?
This is an example of one semi interesting activity involving Mr. Stotz, his companies (Koenigsweg Holdings Ltd Holdings Ltd and its limited liability unit Kingsway Capital) and the Telegram / TON Foundation interactions cross borders, business types, and cultural boundaries. Crypto seems to be a magnetic agent.
As Mr. Snoop Dogg sang in 1994:
“With so much drama in the LBC, it’s kinda hard being Snoop D-O-double-G.” (“Gin and Juice, 1994)
For those familiar with NFT but not LBC, the “LBC” refers to Long Beach, California. There is much mystery surrounding many words and actions in Telegram-related activities.
PS. My team and I are starting an information service called “Telegram Notes.” We have a url, some of the items will be posted to LinkedIn and the cyber crime groups which allowed me to join. We are not sure what other outlets will accept these Telegram-related essays. It’s kinda hard being a double DINO-B-A-BEEE.
Stephen E Arnold, December 24, 2025
Iran and Crypto: A Short Cut Might Not Be Working
November 6, 2025
One factor about cryptocurrency mining (and AI) that is glossed over by news outlets is the amount of energy required to keep the servers running. In short, it’s a lot! The Cool Down reports how one Middle Eastern country is dealing with a cryptocurrency crisis: “Stunning Report Reveals Government-Linked Crypto Crisis: ‘Serious And Unimaginable’”.
What is very interesting (and not surprising) about the crypto-currency mining is who is doing it: the Iranian government. Iran is dealing with an energy crisis and the citizens are dismayed. Lakes are drying up and there are abundant power outages. Iran is dealing with one of the worst droughts in its modern history.
Iran’s people have protested, but it’s like pushing a boulder up hill: no one is listening. Iran is home to a large saltwater lake, Lake Urmia, and it has transformed into a marsh.
Here’s what one expert said:
“An Iranian engineer cited by The Observer alleged that cryptocurrency mining by the state is consuming up to 5% of electricity, contributing to water and power depletion. "We are in a serious and unimaginable crisis," Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian said as he urged action during a recent cabinet meeting.”
The Iranian government has temporarily closed offices and is rationing resources, but it likely won’t be enough to curb power demanded by the crypto mining.
Iran could demolish its authoritarian and fundamentalist religious government, invest in a mixed economy, liberate women, and invest in education and technology to prepare for a better future. That likely won’t happen.
Whitney Grace, November 6, 2025
Google Gets the Crypto Telegram
October 7, 2025
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
Not too many people cared that Google cut a deal with Alibaba’s ANT financial services outfit. My view is that at some point down the information highway, the agreement will capture more attention. Today (September 27, 2025), I want to highlight another example of Google’s getting a telegram about crypto.
Finding inspiration? Yep. Thanks, Venice.ai. Good enough.
Navigate to what seems to be just another crypto mining news announcement: “Cipher Mining Signs 168 MW, 10-Year AI Hosting Agreement with Fluidstack.”
So what’s a Cipher Mining? This is a publicly traded outfit engaged in crypto mining. My understanding is that the company’s primary source of revenue is bitcoin mining. Some may disagree, pointing to its business as “owner, developer and operator of industrial-scale data centers.”
The news release says:
[Cipher Mining] announces a 10-year high-performance computing (HPC) colocation agreement with Fluidstack, a premier AI cloud platform that builds and operates HPC clusters for some of the world’s largest companies.
So what?
The news release also offers this information:
Google will backstop $1.4 billion of Fluidstack’s lease obligations to support project-related debt financing and will receive warrants to acquire approximately 24 million shares of Cipher common stock, equating to an approximately 5.4% pro forma equity ownership stake, subject to adjustment and a potential cash settlement under certain circumstances. Cipher plans to retain 100% ownership of the project and access the capital markets as necessary to fund a portion of the project.
Okay, three outfits: crypto, data centers, and billions of dollars. That’s quite an information cocktail.
Several observations:
- Like the Alibaba / ANT relationship, the move is aligned with facilitating crypto activities on a large scale
- In the best tradition of moving money, Google seems to be involved but not the big dog. I think that Google may indeed be the big dog. Puzzle pieces that fit together? Seems like it to me.
- Crypto and financial services could — note I say “could” — be the hedge against future advertising revenue potholes.
Net net: Worth watching and asking, “What’s the next Google message received from Telegram?” Does this question seem cryptic? It isn’t. Like Meta, Google is following a path trod by a certain outfit now operating in Dubai. Is the path intentional or accidental? Where Google is concerned, everything is original, AI, and quantumly supreme.
Stephen E Arnold, October 7, 2025
Is Google Kicking the Tires of Telegram-Type Crypto Methods?
September 29, 2025
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
There’s been quite a bit of talk about US and China. There is the tariff hassle; there is the AI chip dust up; and there is the on-going grousing about Taiwan. Some companies are shifting manufacturing from China to other countries. (Apple, how is that going for you?)
Art produced by Venice.ai.
I noted a small item which suggests that Google is getting more comfortable with Chinese outfits that are on paper slightly less wired into the Middle Kingdom. “Ant International Among Over 60 Firms Backing Google’s Push for AI Agent Payments” reports as actual factual:
The fintech giant will use its expertise in alternative payments and AI to help shape Google’s open protocol for agent-led transactions.
The news item adds:
Ant International has teamed up with Google to help shape a new way for AI agents to make payments safely, a step that could speed up the growth of autonomous commerce. The Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) is an open system that sets out how AI agents can carry out transactions with a user’s approval. It is designed to check user intent, make transactions easier to track, improve privacy and make it clear who is responsible for each step. The protocol works with different payment types including cards, real-time bank transfers and stablecoins. It also connects with Google’s Agent2Agent and Model Context systems. In addition, Google has launched the A2A x402 extension to support crypto payments between AI agents. Ant International said it will use its experience with alternative payment methods and its links to 36 digital wallets to help build AP2.
This passage adds a bit of allegedly accurate information new to me; specifically, the inclusion of stablecoin support. Yep, crypto and “crypto payments between AI agents.” Telegram’s platform has functions that allow these types of transactions. What’s interesting is that crypto transactions have been used by Kucoin for illegal purposes. The US Securities & Exchange Commission caused a leadership change at Ku Group (the developer of Kucoin) earlier in 2025.
The article quotes a Googler named Mark Micallef as saying:
“AP2 establishes the core building blocks for secure transactions that will drive further growth, creating clear opportunities for the industry—including networks, issuers, merchants, and end users—to innovate on adjacent areas like seamless agent authorization. We’re committed to evolving this protocol in an open, collaborative process and invite the entire payments and technology community to build this future with us.”
Google explains what it is doing in a very cheery and upbeat video at this link.
Has Google decided that Ant International is not too close to the Chinese government? Has Google, like Apple, found a way to conduct business despite the US government’s efforts to limit certain interactions with China and Chinese firms? How likely will these crypto payments be probed by bad actors to determine if money laundering, for instance, can be automated on this international but Googley platform?
As a dinobaby, I find the Telegram-ization of Google’s payment system most interesting.
Stephen E Arnold, September 29, 2025
So Much AI and Now More Doom and Gloom
August 22, 2025
No AI. Just a dinobaby and a steam-powered computer in rural Kentucky.
Amidst the hype about OpenAI’s ChatGPT 5, I have found it difficult to identify some quiet but to me meaningful signals. One, in my opinion, appears in “Sam Altman Sounds Alarm on AI Crisis That Even He Finds Terrifying.” I was hoping that the article would provide some color on the present negotiations between Sam and Microsoft. For a moment, I envisioned Sam in a meeting with the principals of the five biggest backers of OpenAI. The agenda had one item on the agenda, “When do we get our money back with a payoff, Mr. Altman?”
But no. The signal is that smart software will enable fast-moving, bureaucracy-free bad actors to apply smart software to online fraud. The write up says:
[Mr.] Altman fears that the current AI-fraud crisis will expand beyond voice cloning attacks, deepfake video call scams and phishing emails. He warns that in the future, FaceTime or video fakes may become indistinguishable from reality. The alarming abilities of current AI-technology in the hands of bad faith actors is already terrifying. Scammers can now use AI to create fake identification documents, explicit photos, and headshots for social media profiles.
Okay, he is on the money, but he overlooks one use case for smart software. A bad actor can use different smart software systems and equip existing malware with more interesting features. At some point, a clever bad actor will use AI to build a sophisticated money laundering mechanism that uses the numerous new crypto currencies and their attendant blockchain systems to make the wizards at Huione Guarantee look pretty pathetic.
Can this threat be neutralized. I don’t think it can be in the short term. The reason is that AI is here and has been available for more than a year. Code generation is getting easier. A skilled bad actor can, just like a Google-type engineer, become more productive. In the mid-term, the cyber security companies will roll out AI tools that, according to one outfit whose sales pitch I listened to last wee, will “predict the future.” Yeah, sure. News flash: Once a breach has been discovered, then the cyber security firms kick into action. If the predictive stuff were reliable, these outfits would be betting on horse races and investing in promising start ups, not trying to create such a company.
Mr. Altman captures significant media attention. His cyber fraud message is a faint signal amidst the cacophony of the AI marketing blasts. By the way, cyber fraud is booming, and our research into outfits like Telegram suggest that AI is a contributing factor.
With three new Telegram-type services in development at this time, the future for bad actors looks as bright and the future for cyber security firms looks increasingly reactive. For investors and those with retirement funds, the forecast is less cheery.
Stephen E Arnold, August 22, 2025
Party Time for Telegram?
August 14, 2025
No AI. Just a dinobaby and a steam-powered computer in rural Kentucky.
Let’s assume that the information is “The SEC Quietly Surrendered in Its Biggest Crypto Battle.” Now look at this decision from the point of view of Pavel Durov. The Messenger service has about 1.35 billion users. Allegedly there are 50 million or so in the US. Mr. Durov was one of the early losers in the crypto wars in the United States. He has hired a couple of people to assist him in his effort to do the crypto version of “Coming to America.” Will Manny Stoltz and Max Crown are probably going to make their presence felt.
The cited article states:
This is a huge deal. It creates a crucial distinction that other crypto projects can now use in their own legal battles, potentially shielding them from the SEC’s claim of blanket authority over the market. By choosing to settle rather than risk having this ruling upheld by a higher court, the SEC has shown the limits of its “regulation by enforcement” playbook: its strategy of creating rules through individual lawsuits instead of issuing clear guidelines for the industry.
What will Telegram’s clever Mr. Durov do with its 13 year old platform, hundreds of features, crypto plumbing, and hundreds of developers eager to generate “money”? It is possible it won’t be Pavel making trips to America. He may be under the watchful eye of the French judiciary.
But Manny, Max, and the developers?
Stephen E Arnold, August 14, 2025
Telegram: Is Now in the USA and Armed with Crypto Services
July 28, 2025
This blog post is the work of an authentic dinobaby. Sorry. No smart software can help this reptilian thinker.
Telegram in the US is so yesterday. The company is 13 years old. The founder is awaiting trial in France for some charges related to a dozen or more French laws and regulations. The TONcoin has been in the lower tier of the crypto currencies for more than a year. The firm released yet another programming language in the hopes of luring more developers to its platform.
But two allegedly accurate facts about this firm founded by Pavel Durov, the fellow who created the “Russian version of Facebook.” I spotted these in an online publication called TechCrunch. “Telegram’s Crypto Wallet Launches in the US” reports:
Telegram is expanding access to its crypto wallet for its 87 million users in the U.S.
The article includes an assertion that 100 million Telegram Messenger users have activated their crypto wallets. Furthermore, these 100 million people execute 334,000 transactions on the Nikolai Durov-Level1 blockchain every 24 hours. That works out to about 13,900 per hour or 231 per second. No benchmark data from other blockchain services are included in the write up.
My team and I estimated that the Telegram Messenger eGame “Hamster Kombat” attracted about 300 million Telegram users. The “points” in that game were HAMSTR crypto tokens. STAR tokens, a Telegram invented device, were also involved. In order to “cash in” these points for other crypto, the Messenger wallets may have been required for some of these “moves.”
The numbers, like most Telegram user data, are soft and difficult to verify.
Several observations:
- The TON Foundation indicated at the Gateway Conference in 2024 that there were about five million users of Telegram in the US in 2023. The jump to 87 million users is notable and either [a] an indication that Telegram Messenger is a bigger player in the US than believed or [b] Telegram and the TON Foundation are exaggerating their data
- If Telegram does have more than one billion users, the active use of the Telegram crypto wallet is a rather dismal 10 percent of the user base. With Telegram working to build out its crypto services, the “success” of the firm is either [a] disappointing or [b] another bogus number.
- The eGame Hamster Kombat drew three times the number of Telegram users than the Messenger crypto wallet. This means that either [a] the crypto “play” mounted by Telegram after the US SEC investigation in 2020 and 2021 is moving at a snail’s pace or [b] the reported figures are incorrect.
Net net: Verifiable data about Telegram, its proxies, and its business activities are fuzzy. One fact is verifiable: Pavel Durov, the “owner” of Telegram Company, is awaiting trial in France for a number of serious charges.
Stephen E Arnold, July 29, 2025
xAI and Telegram: What Will the Durovs Do? The Clock Is Ticking
May 28, 2025
Just a dinobaby and no AI: How horrible an approach?
One of my colleagues called my attention to the Coindesk online service’s article “Telegram Signs $300M Deal with Elon Musk’s xAI to Integrate Grok into Its Messaging App, TON up 16%.” The subtitle is interesting:
Telegram Will Also Received 50% of Revenue from xAI Subscriptions Sold via the App
If one views Telegram as a simple messaging app, Telegram itself has not done much to infuse its “mini app” with AI functions. However, Telegram bot developers have. Dozens of bots include AI features. The most popular smart software among bot developers is, based on my team’s research, a toss up between open source AI and ChatGPT. If our information are correct, Elon Musk now has a conduit to the Telegram user base. Depending on what source you select, Telegram has 900 to one billion users. How many are humans with an actual mobile phone number? We don’t know, and I am not sure law enforcement knows until the investigators try to match a mobile number with a person, a company, or some mysterious off shore entity with offices in the Seychelles or a similarly flexible nation.
The write up says:
Telegram founder Pavel Durov, revealed on X, that the two companies agreed to a 1-year partnership that would see Telegram receive $300 million in cash and equity from xAI, in addition to 50% of revenues from xAI subscriptions sold via Telegram.
Let’s pull out the allegedly true factoids:
- The deal is a one-year partnership. In the world of the French judiciary, one-year can be a generous amount of time to de-rail the Telegram operation. Mr. Durov’s criticism of France with regards to the Romanian elections and increasing criticism of the French government may add risk to the xAI deal. With Pavel Durov in France between August 2024 and March 2025, Telegram’s pace of innovation stalled on STARs token fiddling, not AI.
- Mr. Musk’s willingness to sign up a sales channel for Grok may be related to the prevalence of Sam Altman’s AI system in third-party bots for customer support and performing a steadily increasing range of Telegram-centric functions. Because Telegram’s approach to messaging allows bots to move across boundaries between blockchains as well as traditional Web services, Telegram’s bot ecosystem should deliver, Mr. Musk hopes, an alternative AI to bot developers and provide a new source of users to the Grok smart software.
- The “equity” angle is interesting. Equity in what? xAI or some other property. Perhaps — just perhaps — Mr. Musk becomes a stakeholder in Telegram. Mr. Musk wants to convert X.com into an “everything” service, a dream shared with Sam Altman. Mr. Altman is not a particularly enthusiastic supporter of Mr. Musk. Mr. Musk is equally disenchanted with Mr. Altman. The love triangle will be interesting to observe as the days click toward the end of the one year tie up between Telegram and xAI.
Another angle on the deal was offered by the online information service Watcher.Guru. “Elon Musk’s xAI Joins Telegram in $300M Grok Partnership”, speculates":
This integration has addressed several critical pain points that crypto users face across multiple essential areas daily. Many people find blockchain technology overwhelming, and the complexity often prevents them from fully engaging with digital assets right now. By leveraging AI assistance directly within Telegram, users can get help with crypto-related questions, market analysis, and blockchain education without leaving their messaging app. The AI integration revolutionizes security by providing tools that identify crypto scams. This becomes valuable given how scams prevail on messaging platforms.
The cited paragraph makes clear that convergence is coming among smart software, social media services with hefty user counts, and crypto currency. However, the idea that smart software will prevent fraud causes me to chortle. Crypto is, in my opinion, a fraudulent enterprise. Mashing up the Telegram system with X.com binds a range of alleged criminal activities to a communications system that can be shaped to promote quite specific propaganda. Toss in crypto, and what do you get? Answer: More cyber crime.
Will this union create a happy, sunny user experience free from human trafficking, online gambling, and the sale of contraband? One can only hope, but this tie up has to prove that it delivers a positive, constructive user experience. When Sam Altman releases his everything app, will X.com be positioned to be a worthy competitor? Will Elon Musk purchase Telegram and compete with proven technology, a large user base, and a team of core engineers able to create a slam dunk product and service?
Good questions. Unlike Watcher.Guru’s observation that “AI integration revolutionizes security”, the disposition of the deal between Messers. Durov and Musk is unknown. (Oh, how can AI integration revolutionize security when the services are not yet integrated.) Oh, well, close enough for horse shoes.
Stephen E Arnold, May 28, 2025
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