So long story short, a friend owed me for a favor and since I did not have bitcoin before he asked If I would take it in BTC. I didn't mind since I can cash out whenever.
My question is.. what do you think? Its a decent chunk of money for me to just hope something keeps rising, do you think I should "let it ride" or cash out and just be happy with ~$500?
If you do not need that $500 very badly then perhaps it is wiser not to convert it to cash. It will become more than $1,500 by the time the year ends. And that $1,500 would grow more than double in the year that follows. I also encourage you to go further than hodling that first amount of Bitcoin that you have. If you have some extra savings, you could always add additional amount to your Bitcoin holdings. And little by little, you are already creating a wealth.