That's basically how I view it.  I got into bitcoin in 2015 or so, and I clearly recall it falling below $200 following some news about major retailers beginning to accept it (I think it was mainly Overstock.com).  And then after that it stalled for months around $420 before finally rising, eventually hitting $20k. 

Bitcoin isn't in "free fall" by any means.  True, it did crash once it hit $20k but right now the price isn't anywhere near where it was when I started buying it.

As for the rationale of government regulations in China, Japan, and Korea causing the market to do what it's doing, I wouldn't argue that this couldn't have an effect.  However, even though those 3 countries are huge in the bitcoin world, they're only 3 countries out of over 200 in the world.  I'm always skeptical when news articles try to explain market movements, because often the writers are grasping at straws.  Sometimes the market moves the way it does without any clear reason

What I think is that the market has stalled because there hasn't been much in the way of good news lately.  If the US gov't approved the bitcoin ETF, I think that would have had a dramatic effect on price, but as of now that's still in limbo.  But ultimately I'm not unhappy with bitcoin being in the $6-7000 range.