There is one major aspect that makes current phase very different from all the previous phases in the runup to the next halving, and that's a continuous progress of regulations taking place, allowing Bitcoin to be more accessible to all sorts of parties than ever before.
but is the increasing adoption and mainstream interest of bitcoin influenced by the fomo on the price driving up? or is the recent rapid increase of price a result of increasing mainstream adoption?
despite the fact that there are multiple events and factors that influence the price of bitcoin, i believe there has to be something out there that influences the price more than anything else. and if it's anything that has a long-term impact on the price more than anything else, it's the block reward.
the laws of supply and demand dictate that the decrease of bitcoins being generated will increase the value of each individual bitcoin. people tend to want something more if it's harder to acquire. i can promise you that, this is coming from someone who collects rare/simple usernames on various social media platforms just because their availability extremely limited. value does not exist outside the consciousness of man, and wanting something that isn't easy to get only makes you human.