At some point the dissenters will have to admit they were wrong. The reality is, BTC is here to stay and is a valuable hedge that is independent of any corporation, government, or central bank.
Maybe that means something, maybe it doesn't. If I had some way of knowing, I'd have a lot more money than I am now. It's worth remembering, though, that prices are just that: prices. Nothing more, nothing less.
And most anyone who bought a house at the peak of the bubble is doing quite well if they still have it today.
It's an important concept to remember when talking about the long term outcomes from adverse market events. "If they still have it today," for example, is a useful qualifier, because it subtly renders the statement almost tautological. "Sure, it was a bloodbath, but all the people who survived seem to be doing OK."
So yeah, it's up to you.
Well those two performed pretty damn spectacularly in the past 20 years.
What is driving the price is price discovery. More people are becoming comfortable with it as an asset as the FUD described above has continued to be debunked. As more people become comfortable that drives demand which increases the value.
As a hedge against inflation it works for a number of reasons. People generally price it in dollars, like stocks or real estate. As the dollar inflates one would assume the value of BTC would increase as investors have more dollars to invest into it, driving demand.
But the "something other" is more and more people agreeing it has value and therefore creating more demand for it and therefore creating higher prices. This is how any asset works.
The idea that BTC goes above 50k USD because millions of people believe its intrinsic value is worth that much is a story that BTC investors tell themselves before going to sleep. Reality is much greedier than that, and they know it, but the narrative won't change while the fairy tale continues to be profitable.