Volatility creates opportunity to make profit for day traders.
Without swing in price trading bitcoin will not be profitable and it can't get buzz/demand like it have right now. So I think both speculation and price volatility is what makes bitcoin a digital gold and we are in digital gold rush phase.
On the contrary to what the OP says, I agree with your point. Bitcoin price is drive by a lot of speculation. And this is where the traders took their profit from. From the day to day price swings of bitcoin. I think we should look at it in the positive way, similar to stocks, you buy low and sell high. Or when the market is super volatile you can buy at good prices and sell for a good price. So yeah, it creates a lot of opportunity specially for most traders.