For the incumbents and newcomers it is impossible to exit without another huge ROI (10x, 100x) since crypto billionaires cannot cash out to billions of US dollars. They need to routinely pump & dump and hope that the music doesn't stop.

Somebody doing taxes this year is going to be on the hook for last year's BTC prices, and by god, they need it at least 100% ROI just to break even after paying taxes in the US.

Capital gains are paid on cash, not on unrealized gains against unsold assets.

So someone doing taxes this year either sold at a profit and has gains to pay on cash, sold at a loss and has no tax to pay, or bought and held, again, no taxes to pay.

There's no being "on the hook for last year's BTC prices" in any of these.

The part you're missing is that those people also believe "first world" countries are at risk of having the same things happen: hyperinflation, debt crises, confiscation of wealth/assets.

And if the risk of those things goes up, a rational person increases their bets as a hedge. Because the payday does go up, but only because everything around it is collapsing.

The difference is that you don't think those things could ever happen here; in our peaceful, stable, bourgeois society.