Here's the real issue. No wonder he's upset and projecting his frustration on bitcoin as a whole.

I got into bitcoin and altcoin mining at the start of 2014, so I know exactly how he feels. My year of mining was tough sledding financially. But I got into BTC out of idealism (despite the awkward timing of coming in on the heels of the "gold rush" crowd), and the rational basis for BTC hasn't changed. (Nor does the OP offer any reasoning against BTC's success). 2014 was a retrenchment from the big Chinese and Gox-driven frenzy of late 2013, running ahead of bitcoin ecosystem development, investment opportunities using BTC, and so forth. I think that has run its course and we are now in the early stages of the next rally. Whether it becomes a measured advanced or another wild frenzy remains to be seen.

But my advice for the OP (and I wish I'd been able to give it sooner) is: DIVERSIFY. No matter how great you think an investment is, never put your eggs in one basket. And start with a conservative foundation - that is, the money you can't afford to lose should be in non-volatile, secured investments. From there you can build up a more risky portfolio, but always keeping a significant level of diversity. For all my faith in BTC and pessimism about fiat currencies I still have a lot more of the latter than the former, though the coming ETF funds may shift that significantly.... but still keeping within the advice given above.