Completely agree with you, mate. Back in 2017, it was all about hype. But after a while, people started to abandon NEO for the next big thing in crypto. The introduction of EOS and TRON into the Blockchain industry, has greatly diminished NEO's prominence within the mainstream world. This could've been easily prevented by increasing development and marketing/promotion efforts for the benefit of the project. For a Blockchain network based in China, NEO should've been one of the biggest smart contract platforms in the world. After all, China is the world's second-largest economy behind the US. The NEO team could've used some funding to improve its development and increase marketing/promotion within the mainstream world. By now, NEO would've been worth at least hundreds of dollars across the market.
With big players on the move, it's hard to believe that NEO will rise again to its former glory. The implementation of NEO 3.0 will greatly increase the performance of the Blockchain. But, what matters most is adoption. And the lack of adoption within the mainstream world, has caused NEO to be a forgotten coin in the industry. I hope that this year would prove us wrong, as NEO gains traction once more. Just my thoughts