The 2017 buzz was very short lived and unexpected but it was real buzz. My guess is it came as a result of the ICOs and alt market more than from Bitcoin but I do think when Bitcoin reached all time highs this brought even more buzz. In general I think alts led the growth last time around while this time around we don't see much growth in alts and we also don't see much retail interest.

I think it makes sense. People who are young or who are just learning are going to want to get the best possible opportunity to make a lot of money and Bitcoin does not represent that. When people look at the percentage ROI possible and seek the maximum possible percentage ROI then they'll look at the alts and not Bitcoin.

Of course this is just a hypothesis.