Back in Bitcoin's early days people were well justified saying that Bitcoin could either end up being worthless, or worth a lot -- nowadays Bitcoin has proven to be worthy of its existence due to the constantly increasing demand. Another thing, the well experienced Bitcoiners don't care about whatever central authority, which is one of the main reasons of why they are in Bitcoin. Other than that, you should advice the person you quoted to not use online wallets to hold coins as in long term storage.