I'm not even sure whether this is a bad or a good thing right now but this is definitely unusual and I have never seen it before even though I have been in the crypto scene since 2014.
From what I can see the development (Lightning network etc.) is more active than it ever was, so shouldn't that give a little boost to the price at least?
For me, a stable crypto price is more welcomed than a volatile crypto price! It has several upsides and with a very little downside. Let me point those out for you,
1. Volatile pricing was one of the major bottleneck for the merchants to accept cryptos as a payment method. Because of the fluctuation risk, the potential to loose money over time was way higher. With a stable price, more merchants will be open to cryptos as a payment method because they won't have to deal with the price fluctuation.
2. Stable price is good because the market is not ready to sell cheaper than current price. It seems to have reached an unwritten consensus among the buyers and sellers. Only an impatient imbecile will sell it cheaper!
3. Stable pricing will effectively discourage a HODLer to hold the crypto for longer time with a hope of good return! It will encourage them to come out of their coffers and to be used as a currency (the original goal of crypto)
4. Stable price effectively encourage the market to see a long term sustainable growth over a period of time! If the fluctuation is not high, people will see a sustainable growth very similar to the real world stock market because speculators will be acted out of the picture which effectively brings down the risk of huge slide!
So for me, stable pricing of a crypto is welcome than a volatile market. If you want to see a sustainable growth now, start using your cryptos as a currency whenever possible!
Price stability, it is good for a long term period. Bitcoin hype causes a volatility! As what you have said, many people see bitcoin as a short term hodling investment. Many companies are still doubt to join in crypto space because they don't want their money to become shit. They want to have stability in price of bitcoin so that, they can buy it anytime.