You've hit on the central, flawed logic of the entire space. It's the Bitcoin paradox.

They scream "HODL!" because scarcity drives the price up. But they also dream of mass adoption, which requires spending and velocity. It's a two-faced god.

The truth is, Bitcoin's main chain is a settlement layer now. It's for huge, slow, expensive transactions, like gold bars moving between vaults. You're not supposed to buy coffee with it.

The "daily use" dream lives or dies on Layer 2 solutions like Lightning. That's where the spending is supposed to happen. So, HODLing on-chain secures the vault, while spending on Layer 2 is what could make it a real currency.

You're not pessimistic. You're just seeing the conflicting narratives they try to sell as one neat package.