“Crypto is almost certainly here to stay”
That is true but bitcoin will go to zero. Think of it as AOL when the internet tookoff. The professionally designed coins will be the ones in widescale use.
That is certainly possible as crypto is still in it's infancy but that is very unlikely. Bitcoin is being held by many of the largest financial institutions and they generally know what they are doing in that department. Bitcoin is sitting at a trillion with a T, market capitalization which is magnitudes of order larger than AOL was at it's peak. Further major exchanges such as Coinbase will instantly loan money against bitcoin holdings just like banks will a home equity loan. Not many assets provide that type of security for a lender and that tells you that they are pretty confident in Bitcoin holding it's value.
Buy yourself a little bit of Bitcoin and hold it. You will probably be very glad you did. If it goes to zero you lose some chump change but if it stays on the current trajectory you will own something in which demand and value will continue to rise for many years to come.