Ransomware forces people to buy bitcoin while at the same time making the bitcoins spent unspendable (because spending them will get you caught).
If you controlled all bitcoin, the way to make money with ransomware is selling your legitimate coins to people who need to buy them to fulfil their ransoms.
Each ransom paid decreases the bitcoin in circulation which further puts pressure on the price. Eventually the pool of legitimate bitcoin will be tiny, but ransoms will still get paid, so the ransom demands will be smaller and smaller in bitcoin denomination. If we assume the ransoms that people are willing to pay is steady in dollar value then that will push the price of bitcoin up.
There is tremendous inflationary pressure on a fragile bitcoin eco-system. It can withstand high inflation because no-one has their salaries or bills in bitcoin.
Where does deflationary pressure come from? It will have bubble cycles that will bubble and pop but overall even as it gets less popular by users, the actual price can rise and rise if the currency circulates slower and slower. The last few bag-holders might have huge paper wealth before they realise there's no one left to actually buy their coins.
I don't think it's a legitimate investment though, it's still a pyramid scheme by it's nature (Satoshi still owns a large proportion of all coins) and even without that investing in bitcoin is investing in cyber-terrorism and funding criminals. (Unlike the "if you download MP3s you're funding terror" bullshit this one is actually closer to the truth).
> Ransomware forces people to buy bitcoin while at the same time making the bitcoins spent unspendable (because spending them will get you caught).
There must be a way to "launder" those bitcoins, because otherwise, as a criminal, why would I want to get ransom in coins that I can't later spend on anything?
And keeping in mind very few people hold much currency. Usually you hold a deposit account, i.e. you lent to your bank. It is a low risk/low yield investment.
Bitcoin is different, not just because of the lack of government backing but also because the way it is structured meant the earlier people got into it the more bitcoins they got. (Fundamentally because mining rewards reduce over time).
But that's irrelevant to fact you've missed the point of his quote, that most people buying other currencies are doing it with purpose (such as hedging) and considering their value, whereas people buying bitcoins are doing it for speculative reasons and aren't making a judgement on where they think the price of bitcoin ought to be.