Part of it is our community's own fault. The alt-coin circus is an embarrassment to bitcoin, and to serious professionals on the outskirts of the bitcoin ecosystem, it looks like what is: children playing a penny-ante game of chicken. Many people with reasonable intellect and reputations to protect don't want anything to do with shenanigans like that, so they opt out of taking a deeper look.
Additionally, the app-coin hype has caused a whole bunch of broad enthusiasm for "block chain technology" in general, while *explicitly* dis-avowing bitcoin as a currency. I think that's a fad borne of ignorance, but it's nonetheless common to hear people on the fringes of the bitcoin ecosystem talk (ignorantly) about "beyond bitcoin" - people who otherwise might focus their budding interest on obtaining/holding/using bitcoin.
At some point, the reality that bitcoin's biggest app is money (in anything resembling the near/medium term), and that it is a fundamental and unprecedented advance in money, will snap back into focus. But it may be a while yet.
i used to think Vitalik was a help to the community when he was sticking to writing articles for Bitcoin Magazine.
now i think he's a hindrance especially when he goes around saying that Bitcoin is "unfair". alot of Wall St pros apparently loved his presentation yesterday and think he's smart. he is smart but ecnomically misguided as i've pointed out numerous times in my gold thread.
oh well, as i'm fond of saying,
"MOST investors in the cryptocurrency space (incl Wall St types) will lose money".
