in my eyes it seems the bitcoin community has decreased dramatically, not just in market cap value, but also in trade volume, community size, community participation, and many other ways. The most fundamental reason prices are low across the board is because there is more supply than demand.
I don't think that in absolute numbers, Bitcoiner population has decreased. A lot of users have lost their interest in Bitcoin and can be branded as "dormant users" right now. But I hope that this phenomenon is a temporary one.
You used the term "dormant" which by definition means not growing. But I can't let you off the hook even with that because the numbers have actually gone south, in real terms.
Activity at BCT is at a relative crawl compared to previous years however membership enrollment is going up, clearly a few people are getting loads of memberships with the hopes of selling them. The con games, the schemes, the ponzi, PND, etc ... has injured the CC industry ... the BTC tumble over 80% of 2014 is the proof. All of that nonsense has driven lots of meaningful interest away.
Take a look at the stats at Alexa.com what you will see is negative growth -- shrinking