The bubble has popped. Only whales were buying XMR - other small time investors that really matters and drive the market up don't give shit about XMR as they see other coins with more potential and less risk. slicker marketing gimmicks & false assurances.
I do agree with the former part. The whales have (mostly) done their buying and now the market goes sideways and down while everyone wonders why. The next step would be creating demand which would need to be a combination of
. Bitcoin user persecution via nosey government (tax fraud, drug busts, China bans, etc)
. A wallet + database
. A growing acceptance of crypto in general (vs the current stagnation). Everyone I know now knows about bitcoin without me telling them. None of them show much interest in it. Adoption has ceased as everyone knows and anyone who wants to use it is. This is much the same with XMR. Everyone who wants to use it / be in on it now is. Most people who own bitcoin and are semi regulars in the crypto world know about it.