Stupid answer, but I think it's all of the above. Just depends what stage they are at. I can't tell you much other than anecdotal stories but living in a tech area, I've heard stories either directly of themselves or of their friends and colleagues.
Most people who are knowledgeable of the tech and potential of cryptos are going long, they may cash out a little for profit but the majority of their coins are still intact. They don't store their coins on exchange but usually hardware wallets, this way it prevents them from looking at daily prices. A young hardware engineer I talked to told me that he and his friend mined BTC back when they were bunking in college dorm, which helped cut their cost and they managed to mine a few hundreds. They cashed out early to pay for the mining equipment cost and took some profits. They probably only keep a little bit as saving on hardware wallets. However, they invested heavily into ETH during its new born stage (<$10 a coin). They are holding and not worried about it.
There's another instance of another engineer's coworker who holds about 10 millions in BTC. That coworker no longer works there. He hired lawyers and accountants in order to cash out without running into legal issues. He hasn't cashed out yet but he's looking into ways to avoid tax agency going after him. He probably celebrated in the beginning but is likely to lose sleeps over regulation and tax laws.
To your wife's question, you could sell those BCH for a nice profit on the rise, then show your wife the money with a smirk on your face. "Does it matter if it's not?"
RE: So what happens now. . .