There's a lot of breezy hype and people trying to make fortunes from unloading their bets to retail traders in those too, but they are at least trading in actual means of production and tokens used by entire economies as their only legal tender

Now, what about gold?

A lot more hype, a lot more FUD about everything that isn't gold, a lot more "now is a good time to buy gold". But at least you can mark its inflated price up by turning it into something many cultures find useful or pretty. :)

Gold exists regardless of if you mine it or not.

And yet people mine it. And it follows the "I can get out before you" game the OP describes.