I keep hearing the same analogies - tulips, dotcom stocks, etc.

I think that the best comparison for crypto is the railroad boom of the 1800's.

Some cool and critical infrastructure got built (Trans-continential RR, Liverpool-Manchester etc.), some scrappy infrastructure got built (tracks to nowhere) and some crooks made a bunch of inflated promises and ran off with investors' money.

When we look back on BTC and other crypto, I think that we will see a similar outcome. It's hard to assess right now when we are right in the middle of it.