If the speculation only involved a Bitcoin price target that would reach $500k in the future, many would be optimistic that it would happen. But with the added focus on when the target is reached, many would probably say the speculation is just a ploy to attract attention from newcomers.
Just like in the past, when people talked and speculated Bitcoin reaching $100k, many were optimistic and believed, but as for the timing, we never saw anything specifically accurate.
We all know that bitcoin is unpredictable, no one can know what will happen in the future because so many things are out of our control. So for me, those who make high predictions and insert specific time but cannot provide data to ensure reliability. This is clearly a ploy to attract more crowd attention, not a pure prediction.
Indeed, I wouldn't argue or doubt this prediction if it weren't tied to a specific time because bitcoin will hit $500k in the future, but only time will tell when that will happen.