I do not consider Bitcoin to be a speculative asset. Yes, it is a deflationary asset, so it grows in value over time. However, in 2021-2030, Bitcoin is about more than just price increases and profits. Bitcoin is freedom.
Various states are planning to create Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC). At the same time, cash turnover will decline. In the near future (2021-2030), cash will be completely withdrawn from circulation. CBDC is digital money that limits people's freedom. All income and expenses, all transactions will be tracked in real time.
Bitcoin is freedom and independence in the totalitarian world of the future digital concentration camp. Not everyone realizes this yet.
However, representatives of the world's elites and the smartest businessmen understand this very well. That is why the price of Bitcoin began to skyrocket in 2020.
To me you can't really be called smart if you buy BTC now instead of a few years ago, or even early last year. I don't mean people buying small quantities, I'm talking about rich people diversifying in BTC. If you're an investor you know about BTC since at least 2017, there is no excuse to be a nocoiner in 2021. As much as I believe the price of BTC long term will be higher, buying now is still a risk in the short term. If you gave me 1 million, yes I would buy some more BTC, but I wouldn't spend all of the million on it, too risky, better to keep fiat for when BTC goes down in price.
Yes obviously people have had years to be smart and buy into Bitcoin, but even now it is still early days for Bitcoin in the grand scheme of things. Bitcoin is still looked at as some sort of scam or super risky investment that you're probably gonna lose all your money on by the majority of people. Institutions are just now starting to get into it in any real manner. The risk/reward ratio of Bitcoin is still obscenely balanced toward reward right now. Just wait until its normal for corporations to hold some of their treasury in BTC, normal for investment funds to hold a few percent in BTC, normal for central banks and governments to hold some BTC, normal for billionaires to have 9 digits in BTC, and US BTC ETFs start getting approved so its normal for the average middle class person in the US to have a couple percent of their retirement fund in BTC. In 5 years these most of these things might be normal, so anyone buying BTC in 2020 or 2021 in the low to mid five digits will be considered early smart money in Bitcoin, even if they are late compared to a lot of people who got in years earlier at a fraction of the price.
If you gave me $1 million right now I'd put every last penny in BTC (well okay I'd probably put like 30% of it in ETH). It'd be a waste to put it in anything else when we already know what is going to be the most obvious best investment in the world in the years to come.
Big money is used to making bets on companies, like startups, looking to make a fortune if any of them pay off during an IPO years later. This is where they are considered smart money. They aren't considered smart money when novel investment opportunities pop up, like BTC. In these situations they are very conservative, which is why you see them only just starting to enter Bitcoin in late 2020 when many millions of people have been talking about Bitcoin for numerous years and everyone knows everyone in Bitcoin is making tons of money. It took mass government money printing and 0% interest rates and now accepted for the long term for these types of investors to realize that Bitcoin is better than sitting in cash or being happy with a 1% in bonds or a few percent a year in stocks.
I'm just saying don't judge them too harshly. They are still in very early in the grand scheme of things so can still be considered smart money. Nobody buying bitcoin is at any risk of anything other than making a ton of money. These are conservative investors and only get into something when it becomes big enough that they can be sure it won't disappear and also only when their other options start looking bad.