You can verify that one bitcoin you have today will not be diluted by more than a certain amount tomorrow. Value is based on people’s value of the object though, and I wouldn’t necessarily bet on Bitcoin keeping that over the long term.

> and I wouldn’t necessarily bet on Bitcoin keeping that over the long term.

You can however bet 100% that your dollar is going to be worth WAY less in 20 years than now.

people invest their money into appreciating assets like stocks

Yes, but crypto has been a better investment compared to stocks for now about 10 years (if you keep crypto long enough, not day to day trading). Stocks gains are anemic in comparison.

that's like buying a lottery ticket, winning, and saying it was a good investment. Even if your super risky investment ended up paying this time, you still don't have the information needed to be able to pretend that you know that repeating that decision will lead to good returns