We're talking about huge amount of money that could drive a market into a trend, its not about whether the prices will grow because of people buying or selling but how the price will grow "IF" bitcoin still has a meaning and future in the community.People didn't invest in the price, they invest in a value of something. If something has value much and now the price is undervalue then it would be a good decision to invest but a decrease in price didn't have the same meaning as a price crash.
You may not like it but this is how matters stand nowadays anyway. Besides, i don't think we can actually speak about "reputation" here. Price crashes don't hurt it because there's nothing to hurt. Rather, they reveal Bitcoin's true nature, that of a purely speculative asset. In other words, whatever reputation Bitcoin may have built, metaphorically speaking, it was all false and deceit. One shouldn't expect too much from such an asset apart from extreme volatility and rampant speculation. The leopard can't change its spots.
Well, myself, I wouldn't use the word 'reputation'. As you yourself say later in the post, it is more about faith. And then I certainly agree with you. When Bitcoin crashes so hard, people lose their faith. But that's how things often happen with faith in real life. People who blindly believe in something, which is what faith is all about, typically end up being deceived. So you shouldn't actually be surprised with how the events have been unfolding since December. It was sort of set in stone and written on the wall at that.