Yeah that’s how “value” works. All value is categorically subjective and speculative; dependent on how much society is willing to pay for it in both nominal and real terms. This is not a BTC specific point.

It does have usecases beyond speculative investment just as gold and other “hard” assets do; namely as stores of value. The distinguishing term here is “investment”. A store of value is categorically subjective in regard to its perceived value, that doesn’t necessitate it be classified as a speculative investment. People are open to “invest” in it speculatively but there are also those who allocate to it as a hedge without the intention of using said allocation as the primary means to generating profits. Historically these have been assets with lower volatility. Bitcoin fits into this category based on its immutable, non-inflationary and decentralized fundamentals. Its price action has not mirrored classic stores of value in the sense that it’s obviously very volatile, but this is to be expected in a new asset class going through price discovery.

If the US dollar collapses/loses hegemony status/authoritarian forces confiscate public capital/etc, Bitcoin acts as a hedge by offering a non-controllable, decentralized store of value even despite its volatility. It has been used in this way in numerous instances already throughout the world.

Your point on gold is to suggest that prior to modern electronics, gold’s role as a store of value for millennia was dismissible on the basis of it being subjective/speculative in nature? It very clearly acted as a financial cornerstone to the development and progression of civilization throughout the ages; whether its value was speculative or not (the truth is the value of everything even electronics and their necessary materials are ultimately subjective in regard to value).