This "volatility will come down as the market cap gets larger" keeps getting thrown around, yet Bitcoin just lost 50% of its value at a market cap of 1 trillion USD. What market cap is required for Bitcoin to stop being volatile?
So, not the same kinds of returns and drawdowns as BTC/USD, but enough to make one's eyes water and stomach churn. Forex has always had a reputation for volatility.
I think when Bitcoin approaches Gold's price, you can expect similar volatility because by then large institutions/countries would be holding it.
Also on a long term basis, it appreciates an average of ~300% year over year which is much better than the dollar which is depreciating on purpose.
Gold isn't used directly because it's not convenient, are you gonna transport a heavy metal that you can't divide into small portions to pay for stuff? No! Lightning network wallets makes even tiny payments of couple satoshis very easy/instant/almost free.