Well, I did make a pretty sizable chunk of money in crypto. And the ICO on both the DDLT platforms I was a part of designing and building did well.

But, I didn't need to really risk any of my own money. And fortunately I have been a successful investor (equities and fixed income) and well-paid for a long time.

In other words, I don't need to gamble to get ahead. Which is what is widely acknowledged as a big reason (i.e., people who have no real other opportunities or skills) crypto has such a large following... overwhelmingly by people who are FOMO or gamblers or just plain poor folks who have few chances of otherwise doing well. (Yeah, ok, plus the arch-opportunists best exemplified by Peter Thiel or the Winkelvoss brothers or someone like Musk who draws the majority of his profit from China, etc.) Or the exceedingly large (although proportionally now much smaller) dark web/ransomware/blood-diamond-like component that needs it to safely transact.

You're a gambler. And seeming not wholly unsystematic. Most aren't even that. They're just lucky. Or they're earning off the eco-system.

Where this will end in any detailed fashion I definitely can't say. The best and lately seemingly hopeful outcome nowadays is that central bank digital coins will suck a lot of air out of this. I give it 50/50. The other 50 is that if the western liberal democracies don't outlaw or heavily regulate it, they will undermine their influence and we'll enter into a world of money, resources, and politics run by authoritarian/kleptocratic governments.

But, to understand this, you have to care and be somewhat familiar with what goes on in the rest of the world, politically and economically. And not have much of a stake in crypto or, worse, it be your only stake.