"Bitcoin is a pyramid scheme in that everyone is counting on someone else to want them"
Exactly like gold. Yet you don't see people claiming gold is a "pyramid scheme", now do you?
Most of gold's value is dictated purely by speculation and jewelry use (people want it because it is... rare - there is no other underlying reason).
(People say that gold has value because it has industrial uses, but these uses only justify a small fraction of its price, which is in most parts a result of pure speculation and jewelry use).