Why are so many new EU investors jumping straight into speculation, heavy leverage and Etoro CFDs instead of just buying and holding long-term?

I've been chatting with a bunch of friends and acquaintances lately who are just getting into investing, and it's honestly blowing my mind how many of them are going straight for the high-risk stuff. Like, not even dipping a toe in with some boring index funds or a simple long-term portfolio – nah, they're talking about loading up on individual stocks with tons of leverage, trading CFDs on Etoro, or chasing whatever meme is hot that week. One mate in Germany was telling me he's 5x leveraged on s