Most of the people who joined the crypto community at the later part of 2017, especially December were not any real crypto investors. They just heard about the booming prices and decided to join and also make profit. They don't know the potentials of the blockchain technology and the future it holds and that is why now that prices are down, they have all left the market and its left the real crypto enthusiasts. They are those who are seriously doing panic selling over the markets
Perhaps you were right, there are many people joining the crypto that time, and right now when the market is like this, all those people getting worried and many of them end up dumping all the coins they had, making the condition even worse.