I think everyone has a different mean about success, but most peoples measure the success with the value of the coin.
If the value of the coin high, then the coin is a successful project. You can call bitcoin is success because the value is very high and used by peoples around the world.
The higher the coin value, the more successful that project will be and attract a lot of big investors. In addition, the long-term investment trend will greatly increase if the value of the coin is stable in the long run.
However, in the crypto market very few coins do this because after the rally period there will be a huge adjustment and that is why they prefer speculation over investment.
Speculation will certainly be in the cryptocurrency market and in any other market. I think that we should not act softly, but also take an active part in cryptocurrency trading!