It comes down to their trading skill some are good at day trading or short term trades, so we couldn't really say that they could never achieve anything big.
What if they are making use of the Bitcoin price movement on short term trades to gain more Bitcoin rather than just holding their Bitcoin?
We should never look down on those short term investor, they could always reinvest their winnings to gain more.
Many of them don't reinvest their gains, they spend it on looking rich and they miss to buy Bitcoin before it starts pumping again. Investors that do short time investing don't make profits like investors that hodl for very long. They can decide to sell Bitcoin in profits but the profits don't get reinvest and then the won't own any Bitcoin while Bitcoin is pumping. If you're trading frequently you can make profits but also you can lose too if you don't know how to trade very well. Investing in Bitcoin for long time will make you to not be worried and you can do other things to bring more money so you can use them for buying more Bitcoin. Being in the market regularly will make you to have a short time mentality for investing and it'll make you miss out of bigger profits opportunities.
I generally know that investing in Bitcoin for a long period of time can only earn more benefits. But comparatively if you start trading the risk is high as well as the possibility of loss is high because the market is always going up and down. But those who invested in Bitcoin at the beginning of 2023 at about 18 thousand dollars at the time. But now currently in February 2024, the price of Bitcoin touched $52.3K. So you think the price of Bitcoin has almost doubled in just one year, of course I think long term investment is the most profitable, and I don't like trading, I like long term investment the most.
Just because you mention the year 2023, you should think more deeply that the holdings of those who have traveled so far in Bitcoin in the past are bigger. Historically Bitcoin holdings have benefited the most, preferring long-term holds. Because the risk is less and the benefit is more, it is possible to be successful by investing wisely than just patience. Basically those who invested in the near term between 2013 and 2014 own the biggest gains now that they are big.