I have increasingly the feeling that the entire hype was orchestrated by intelligence&big banks/the powers to be. The supposedly entirely private and enthusiasm driven development was kicked off, until their products are developed and established enough for their institutional application.
My comparison would be rocketry after World War 1 as I write here about its early development. It was mainly driven by enthusiasts who did it in their free time and with their own money. But it was the military & intelligence in the background who kept an eye on them and allowed them to conduct their hobby. When their rockets were good enough and it was clear who the talents were, they stepped up and made them an irresistible offer.
We see now something very similar playing out with blockchains/crypto.