i've been in the game since BTC was at $20. when it hit $1000 and tanked to $100 my buddy told me i was an idiot for not selling.
you mean when it went to $1200 and fell to $170 
and depending on the context you might have been an idiot for not selling. a trader for example not selling is a big ass idiot. but an investor not selling is not. in other words it mainly depends on your strategy.
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he started talking about how the government and banks want to destroy BTC cause it threatens/competes with the financial system.
volatile price does not "destroy" bitcoin so this theory can not be correct.Quote
he also believes the uber rich want to control it and profit through manipulation.
this makes more sense as we have seen the manipulation and the large amounts of profit that has been made this way.