That's true and that is because development on the protocol will progress, second layer options will further emerge and improve and utility is increasing with BTC's volume and price.

Everyone who has been traveling to countries in the recent past where BTC ATMs are located, probably has had a positive experience using BTC. I mean it depends on the fees of those ATMs of course and some of them are just too expensive and not really feasible. But still BTC is the most liquid and mobile asset you can have at the moment (next to fiat of course). But BTC doesn't have a limit in terms of capital mobility. If you want to take a billion dollars in BTC with you, you can go wherever you want and nobody will and can stop you from carrying it with you and using it abroad. Try getting a billion dollars in gold bars out of the country, or in cash. Or try it with some pieces of art, or a watch collection. Try it with a bank transfer.

There is simply no way that any of the physical or digital assets running on legacy systems infrastructure could give you the advantages that BTC gives you. As more people realize that, adoption will further increase, then in turn increase utility, which then further drives adoption.

You are probably talking about fiat money that is deposited in a bank account. Otherwise, nobody is going to refund you the $10,000 cash you carried around when someone hit you with a hammer and ran with the money. But the implicit calculation that you did here lacks something that's very important to note:

When you get hacked and money is stolen from your bank account, the bank tells you that you might be to blame, but they compensate for the loss out of goodwill. First of all, in many cases when bank accounts get hacked, hackers found away to penetrate the security architecture of the bank and exploit weaknesses there. But they will still try to make you feel guilty.

But now there is another very important difference when it comes to fiat money deposited in a bank: they use your hard earned money to earn money. In essence, you entrust them with your money and allow them to generate cash for themselves with your money, but at the same time you rightfully demand a certain level of security. When you own a decentralized currency, banks are pissed because you don't deposit it in a bank account, which then means that your money doesn't serve as capital on a bank's balance sheet.

If banks were to let you alone with damages resulting from hacks, I am sure you would certainly consider self-custody. i.e. manage your own cryptocurrencies, as there is no more advantage for you to deposit wealth at a financial institution.

Many of the advantages that fiat money has over BTC are artificially developed and enforced through legal frameworks phrased and pushed by the powerful banking lobby. Fiat money has advantages not because it is intrinsically better, but because the lobby behind fiat is still Goliath while the lobby behind BTC is growing, but still David.

There is a combination of a couple of things when everything goes South like that. Bayern usually had professionals in leadership positions that had an amazing career and understood how to manage a club. But they now decided to have some former business CEOs take full control of the club and I thought that couldn't work out and it didn't. There is a lack of expertise. Before that they had this guy called Salihamidciz and I doubt that anyone respected him. It was him and former CEO Kahn who sacked Nagelsmann to then sign Tuchel. It all went wrong and now they are paying the bill.

But the good days are far from coming to an end. This is one season and I think everyone has a feeling of what can now be expected next from Bayern. They will take some serious cash, sign players and a star trainer and then aim at playing a perfect season 2024/2025.

Thanks for bringing me up to date here, didn't have those news on my radar. I was aware that Neuer is having issues and that he didn't play in the Bundesliga, but I don't think it makes much of a difference if Ulreich replaces him. Of course Neuer sometimes has special moments, but Ulreich is not several levels below him. I consider him a very solid goalkeeper that the team can rely upon both in easier and hard games.

Sané is a loss to Bayern, but really only if he is in top shape. He has bad games sporadically and each time I don't understand why a player like him is moving up and down on the performance curve all season long. Coman hasn't been playing a lot as of late, has he? Sometimes I am not too closely following everything, but now that you mention him I think he has been away for a while.

It is going to be a tough game and Arsenal knows that this home game is their big chance. A win is obligatory if they want to reach the next round and Bayern has never been weaker than that this season.

Isn't perhaps one of the biggest problems that we call things now overpriced that have for a long time been underpriced? I think a lot of the negative aspects of our consumption behavior have for a long time not been priced into good and services. Or rather bads and services. You may get the point already.

I have recently watched a few documentaries about large-scale meat production and food production in general. Some of the documentaries were about agricultural production, but also about other kinds of highly processed foods. Meat is the most prominent example when I shop for groceries and realize how cheap some of it is, but once you saw some of those documentaries you also realize that it is barely acceptable to criticize the pricing as someone or something is paying for it. In this case it is the animals and to a large degree the environment. I know different people have different opinions here, but I concur that there are products which are overly expensive, but many of the products that people complain about may have been underpriced for a long time.

Since you said everything is overpriced, I thought I may give my 2 cents here. You could make a case for many many products that now seem to be too expensive while the reasons for those products to have been so cheap in the past should at least be looked at in more detail before making a final judgment.

Economies of scale and comparative advantage are important principles that the global economy and its supply chains are based upon, but this doesn't mean that the advantages these principles bring about are evenly distributed across the world and among people. Some will call inequality a necessary evil and I probably agree to some degree. But when supply chains get interrupted and the rich world suddenly has to bear the cost that the poor world was bearing for them, the outcry about expensive products deserves a closer look and a more sophisticated answer. 

This probably describes best what's going on. Coming up with a technical explanation for the BTC price to rise or not around the halving isn't very helpful on an individual basis. It still remains pure speculation, but the psychological tendency of the majority of people is probably the assumption that the price still rises. The perceived increased scarcity when the block reward drops is likely to have a bigger impact on the price than the idea that the scarcity concept is already priced in and people may take profits around the halving.

It is the same with expected and actual inflation and how expected inflation drives actual inflation. It often needs time and only via a moving average can realistic conclusions be drawn where people really thought the inflation rate would end up being.

BTC's price could be overpriced, or underpriced, but the interesting thing about expectations in the BTC network is that halvings are hard-coded. Inflation isn't hard-coded and can depend on a million of things, like a pandemic, logistic problems, war, trade wars, climate, etc. One could assume that expectations could be priced in easier for the BTC network since increased scarcity isn't the result of unexpected events, and yet it is a hard nut to crack.

I believe it is more about a narrative when it comes to halvings. They have manifested themselves as being BTC price booster, but technically they shouldn't be as everyone can look up the schedule and then make up their minds about a potential future price tag. The truth is that BTC reflects far, far, far more of the complex world than just a pre-defined halving schedule / programmed emission curve / scarcity. But the halving schedule is the easiest to understand of all the things that BTC interacts with. It's something people can easily follow via a countdown. However, complex developments like geopolitical tensions or aspects from political economy aren't something that many people can reasonably evaluate. That's why I think these halvings, despite being perfectly predictable, can still set free some of the known herding behavior.

I think the game Bayern vs. Dortmund shouldn't have an impact on the odds for the Champions League games as you can't take the Bundesliga games of Bayern too seriously at this point. I am sure that they will play on a different level in the Champions League. In the Bundesliga all hope for a title was lost quite early on due to Leverkusen's remarkable performance and it is probably a motivational issue when a team understands that the result is more or less meaningless.

Atletico Madrid is weird as they are hard to predict. On the one hand they kicked out one of the biggest favorites, Inter Milan, and on the other hand they are playing so erratically in La Liga. Winning only 2 out of the last 5 games in La Liga and they lost some games against teams from the bottom of the standings. But that doesn't mean they are not the favorite against Dortmund as Dortmund is having similar issues. I doubt that Dortmund can beat them in Spain.

The bookmakers are giving Manchester City a slight edge over Real Madrid in the Bernabeu Stadium. I think I disagree here. It should be equal or slightly advantageous for Real Madrid in their home game.

Bayern Munich at odds over 4.0 could be worth a bet. I am sure that they will play a decent game in England. Whether they can win, I don't know, but they are good enough to justify a bet on over 4.0.

Ok I found this website and it is as you described that they can gather some experience with the first La Liga team when they are playing for their academy and then sporadically act as substitutes in La Liga games. But there is no fixed rule for a minimum age or something. Instead, there are international FIFA rules and the idea is that those rules are to be followed if there is no other national rule set.

One important aspect of those rules is that signing players under 18 is only accepted if the player comes from Spain or some nighbor country. I think it was the same with this kid that Real Madrid signed for a lot of money when they agreed that he will join the club when he is about to turn 18.

If the goal is to protect the players' childhood and youth, I think there are a lot of other things that could be done as well. But when a player is really good enough to compete with adults, I think there is no issue with letting them play at 17 or so. There will always be these unbelievable exceptions and as long as they are treated with caution, giving them playing time at a younger age shouldn't be an issue.

I agree and complaining doesn't make any sense anyway. There are advantages and disadvantages when the best teams in a competition play against each other early on. The good thing is that we don' t have too wait too long until the big clashes in the Champions League finally take place. And there are two games to be played, which is another positive aspect of this encounter. A final would only be one game, so looking forward to seeing Manchester City vs. Real Madrid twice is quite fun.

The bad aspect is when underdogs get away too well all the time and end up in a final. Of course watching an underdog can be fun, but I wouldn't like to see something like Porto against Manchester City. I know Porto is out, I am just saying. Dortmund wasn't playing very well either and I doubt they would have a chance against Real Madrid or Manchester City.

Not really all that surprising that people thought this game would end in a boring way with no more action and the win for Manchester United would be save. Actually, Chelsea wasn't dangerous at all and they weren't really trying anymore, but this one penalty situation revived the game suddenly.

But to be honest Manchester United deserved the loss because they did by no means play this game like an elite squad. It looked lazy and overly confident that nothing would happen anymore. I expect a team that aims at qualifying for the Champions League to play at highest concentration levels until the final whistle is blown. They kicked the ball a bit back and forth and there was no alertness anymore. I enjoyed that defeat because I hate ten Hag and I hope that he will finally get sacked anytime soon. Enough is enough and he has had his chances.

Juventus is still looking alright as I think their only goal is to qualify for the Champions League this season. I thought they would be able to compete with Inter Milan for the Scudetto until the end of the season, but the distance between them and Inter is huge. It's 20 points after 30 games, which I think doesn't need any more comments.

If Juventus plans to close that gap anytime soon and finally become competitive again, I think they would have to add several high quality players to their team. This is certainly not sufficient right now. They are scoring a mere 1.5 goals per game, which is very poor for a team that thrives to be among the best in Europe. Their defense is more or less ok although it doesn't really help them as they are rarely scoring goals themselves.

But they should keep an eye on what's happening behind them. It is 7 points to Roma, but there are a couple of hard games coming up and Roma probably hasn't given up on the top 4 just yet.

Yes I agree it is highly unlikely that Barcelona would have a chance if it comes down to competing bids between them and Chelsea. As you said, waiting two years for a transfer until the player can play is not something that Barcelona would be able to afford in their current financial situation.

Is this rule fixed that he would have to wait 2 years until he can play? What I don't get is that other players have played in La Liga before they turned 18, or not? 18 sounds so old and there are many players who get their first experience at the age of 17 and even 16.

Is it still a rumor? I think that Mbappe will definitely play for Real Madrid next season. The reason for my reasoning is that there is no other realistic scenario for Mbappe. What could it be? Mbappe play for PSG for another few years? Highly unlikely. But where could he go? I think that given how he was talking about Real Madrid and that Ronaldo was his role model, he would have all good reasons to go to Real Madrid and write his own chapter for the club. Money is nothing he has to be after anymore, he is rich as fuck. Now it is all about putting himself down in history.

But they keep it secret and that's normal. No communication makes sense at the moment. Staying calm and playing football is the best he can do. Who knows, Real Madrid could soon be playing against PSG in the Champions League. Would be funny to see Mbappe eliminate Real Madrid! It would instantly raise his future salary!

I don't think that experience sets them apart from each other. Both teams have their experience. Just imagine how insightful it was for Manchester City to have Liverpool as a constant opponent in the Premier League. No matchday could be neglected in any way because there is this other team that is pushing the limits. Manchester City and Real Madrid are equal at the moment I think. Both have amazing weapons. Manchester City has so many versatile players. Real Madrid has Vinicius Junior, Bellingham, so many others that are on the highest level possible. It is such a great event to have these teams play against each other, I am just a bit sad that they meet in the quarterfinals. It is too early for one of them to leave the competition. But ok, we as the fans have some amazing games to watch in the relatively early stages of the competition.

Nobody thought this, but the sad part about this win is that it is worthless for Chelsea. If they were still fighting for something, I think this win would have been so much more valuable, but now they got the three points and it does nothing. Manchester United is the loser of the month in this game or probably the loser of the season. They needed those three points so badly, but yet again messed it up. Old story, no news at all. They have played carelessly and how can you give away a lead in the seventh minute of overtime and then concede another goal to seal the loss.

Oh ok, I didn't check the odds yet for the Manchester City - Aston Villa game, but I fully agree with you that 1.26 is laughable. I mean if they want to put Manchester City as the favorite here, which makes sense of course for that game, then it would be more like a 1.5 or something. 1.26 is like Bayern Munich playing against Darmstadt lol.


What do you mean by this? Liverpool has to play against Atalanta in the Europa League or were you referring to something else? Not sure if I understand you correctly here.

But in general I see it the same way. The remaining schedules are pretty even for everyone and maybe having one more game at home can be a tiny advantage, but it does definitely not mean the world.

For us fans it is good to see though that the Premier League is as close as it can get. It would be boring to see one team being ahead with 10+ points at this stage of the season.

And keep in mind that his statistic isn't outrageously good. He has scored 15 goals and out of those 15, 4 goals were scored by penalties. I would never put that guy at any three figure value, never.

As you said, top players like Leao or Musiala are worth that money, but not Isak. I am not sure about Osimhen at the moment as he isn't quite able to repeat what he has done last season. But I think these price tags suggest that a player should be able to maintain top form over the course of several subsequent seasons. It isn't enough to score a high number of goals one season and then play subpar the next season. Osimhen is at 11 goals for the season so far. That's not enough for a world class center forward. Leao is a different type of player. He is not mainly responsible for scoring goals. His main task is to assist and confuse the opponents's defense with his speed and technique.

Musiala is an amazing player with his impressive body weight balance. I never understand how he is doing many of his movements. It looks as if he was supposed to crash on the floor, but yet again stays up and makes some unexpected move.

I wouldn't exaggerate Gudogan's impact on the Manchester City team. He played an amazing season 22/23 and he would be missed a lot if Manchester City didn't have any alternative players who can fill that gap, but they do have a variety of players with very high quality that can replace him. There was a mutual benefit for both Manchester City and Gundogan. Just look how he is playing for Barcelona now. He is doing ok and he is still a great player, but you can see that his performance changed for the worse ever since he left Manchester City. So it is not only about Gundogan being so good, it is also about Manchester City as a whole being so good that Gundogan's game benefitted a lot from all the other players as well.

Thankfully, I have been granted a spot in this campaign for over a year now. I just checked my PMs and back at the time I ran into the timezone issue and Hhampuz does strictly adhere to the rules he set up. That's the only way to make it fair for everyone. I lost one week back at the time but the truth is that reading the rules properly would have solved the issue beforehand for me.

If anyone thinks complaints are justified, I want to instead vouch for Hhampuz that he is treating everyone the same at any time. I paid my lesson back then for skipping that time zone rule. Hasn't ever happened again.

I would usually not post this, but before people think that this minor issue should not lead to somebody not getting paid, rules are without a doubt the same for everyone ever since he is running the campaign. So there is no point in asking for special treatment.

No I don't think his value as a manager would drop unless Leverkusen crashes brutally hard and finishes the season out of the top 4 or far worse than that. Everyone knows that realistically speaking, after such a season a lot of big clubs will reach out to those players who are mainly responsible for that remarkable success. Alonso has proven his value already. He took over in Leverkusen when they were crashing hard, and now they are on their way up with players whose names most people have never heard about before.

But since he now decided to fulfill his contract, I believe this will turn into a very important signal for everyone in the team and the club. It is not as easy a decision to leave the club as it would be when Alonso decided to leave the club. I think that most of them will stay and try to let that project prosper further. They have just built the foundation this season.