>This is more to prove to yourself and gain standing in the industry

The second part is the critical one. While you can certainly learn anything you want by yourself, the Industry will not recognize nor accept you without a minimum of a Bachelor's degree. You will hit a hard barrier sooner or later in terms opportunities, career growth and money. That is just how it is in the real world.

PS: There are plenty of studies showing a distinct correlation between Education level and Earnings potential(just do some Google searches). Here is a quick read: https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2018/data-on-display/educa...