Because Trump's involvement offers direct evidence of crypto's lack of legitimate credibility in the marketplace.
Trump himself called it when he said, "highly volatile and based on thin air". But he and his family are making use of it to provide a thin veil over pay-to-play politics and influence peddling.
Crypto is not a functioning currency or a store of value. It is being used mainly for illegal or quasi-legal activities and for speculation. And the speculators are slowly catching on to the fact that insiders have the upper hand and are working against them.
Without regulation, there is no disincentive for manipulation and thus any claim of a "free market" is highly suspect.
It's a victim of its own success. It's struggling, because large institutions are invested in it, and it now rises and falls with the stock market. It used to be advertised as an alternative to these institutions.
I also think because of the volume, pump and dump schemes are less likely and some popular Youtuber shilling for it can't raise the price anymore.
It's struggling, because large institutions are invested in it
Many of these "large institutions" (for example, Fidelity) are merely trade facilitators responding to client interest --- aka, speculation. They have nominal investments in crypto as necessary to offer trading services to their clients.
An apparent exception to this is Strategy, led by Michael Saylor. But even in this case, their direct "investments" are actually financed by debt ($6 billion or so) --- aka other people's money.
In most cases, it's the "little people" who have all the skin in the crypto game.
Trump himself called it when he said, "highly volatile and based on thin air". But he and his family are making use of it to provide a thin veil over pay-to-play politics and influence peddling.
Crypto is not a functioning currency or a store of value. It is being used mainly for illegal or quasi-legal activities and for speculation. And the speculators are slowly catching on to the fact that insiders have the upper hand and are working against them.
Without regulation, there is no disincentive for manipulation and thus any claim of a "free market" is highly suspect.