Bitcoin is like a dividend-free stock or commodity: you have to sell your share to get some cash. Of course, those who come earlier get easier access to more shares, but they are exposed to a higher risk. Zuckerberg had 100% of Facebook initially and was selling it partially to get more cash to keep it going. When he started anyone could do the same, but not many succeeded. Later investors were willing to pay higher amounts of money when the value of the company became more certain in their eyes. But in each case, the owners of stock had to lose some part of it to enjoy extra cash.

Also, consider this approach: http://auroracoin.org These guys intend to distribute coins "fairly" to each individual in Iceland. Sounds like a fair distribution? Well, once some individuals get this weird coin, they will decide if they want to keep it. And some of them will sell them to collectors for cheap. This will make the price go down noticeably and cause more folks to get rid of such coins. So they will end up for very cheap in the hands of a very few "early adopters". Whether it will start growing organically from there or not - is another question, but you can see that you cannot force "equality and fairness" on the market. It will reconfigure itself according to everyone's personal preferences. And in case of a weird new tech it will always mean little number of early believers vs. big number of mainstream doubters.

Yes, it is an asset. A very easy to trade purely electronic asset. Due to its easy tradeability it is similar to a currency, but much like stocks, it is not a currency.

You bought Bitcoin in 2011 if you believed it was a sound technology, that would inevitably get popular, and you still buy Bitcoin today if this is your conviction. It might not pan out, as there might be a severe flaw in the protocol, or something better might come along, so don't invest anything you can't watch burn. But if Bitcoin fulfills its promise, then there is still significant growth to be seen.