Back in 2017 in a forum on ET someone asked the question "Why would anyone want to own Bitcoin" At the time I responded: "Because one day in the future you will say I remember when I could have purchased a whole Bitcoin for $2,500." The next post said it was going to zero. So the battle will rage on and on with the deniers always denying and never learning.
So the reason to own bitcoin hasn't changed? Buy it because it is going to go up! A 78 yr old should know better. How have you made out as a bitcoin owner? Have you taken advantage of the violent swings?
Did you buy at $2,500? And if you were sure you should have bought a lot and be millionaire/billionaire by now. Is that the case or is it just hindsight?
I'm not so sure BTC can even reach 0, however, there is some tail-risk at the extreme if Europe and other nations continue to push-through the ban on crypto-mining. But in that case, you'll most certainly see the btc-maxi crowd suddenly have a 180 change in opinion and vote for a new taproot upgrade to PoS.
Bitcoin has been declared dead 15 times already this year. In my opinion it is next to impossible for bitcoin to recover.
Until it doesn't. Long term, it's doomed. Even if cryptocurrency becomes the replacement for all existing fiat currencies, Bitcoin will be replaced by competitors. It's like sinking all your money in Netscape and AOL. Short term, people have made money. Big deal. People make short term money at the roulette wheel. Here's one scenario: Bitcoin requires a constant stream of people buying in to cause price appreciation. As that "market cap" gets larger and larger, you need ever increasing investment to support the upward price movement. Eventually you reach a size where that is no longer possible. At the point, the bottom drops out. If I'm not seeing appreciation in Bitcoin anymore, who not sell it all and buy SPY? Except that I won't be the only person with that idea and then you have panic selling. The closest historical example I can find is the French Mississippi company. At one point its market cap was greater than the value of all the real estate in France, despite having a tiny number of employees. Then it crashed. The thing supporting the price was hope of future rapid price appreciation.