It is mach more difficult to work in bad market conditions. In 2017 people invested money in all the projects independent from the idea. Now they lost a lot money and simply do not trust all crypto projects. And in such conditions it is really very hard to work.
You talk about a silly mass. At first they believed everything, and then they began to believe nothing. If the cycle repeats, this mass of people will repeat the sequence of actions and emotions. This will always occur in connection with the updating of market participants.
Perhaps this situation may happen again when prices are high. But still I think that such a scale will not be.