Gox would have happened without alts, negative attention in the media would have happened without alts and lots of other bad things would have happened without alts.  It's far too simplistic to try to dismiss all the subtle nuances and subtle market movements in a statement as blunt as "it was the altcoins".  Unless you want innovative but untested features being trialled on the main bitcoin blockchain, you need alts to serve as a testbed.  

Cryptocurrency is all about innovation and you can't stifle that by saying alts are bad.  If someone wants to try out a radical new idea, they can make a new coin to test it and see if it works.  Then, if it turns out to be a complete disaster, Bitcoin remains unaffected.  This thread sounds like you want everyone to put all their money in bitcoin, so you can sell and make some fiat.  2015 will be a better year without people like that.  This isn't your personal get-rich-quick scheme.

Depends on how you look at things.  2014 was worst than 2013 price wise, but adoption, infrastructure, and investment wise we're really moving in the right direction.

If you look at 2014 compared to the rest of Bitcoin's 5 year history, we're on a good trajectory overall.

But yes, to get the mainstream and wall street interested, we'll indeed need to price stabilize going upward if possible, as perception around the common man's circles are is "Bitcoin's dying a slow death".

Enter Winklevii COIN ETF ?

Er, Mt. Gox? Forgotten about that disaster already?

I don't think it will improve. There needs to be more security in bitcoin and the block reward needs to be halved twice. Too many miners are withdrawing into FIAT>

bitcoin community is giving a high confidence to 2015 for bitcoin I hope we don't get dissapointed

If you buy my product with Bitcoin, then I will assure you that the Bitcoin you spend will stay in the economy. (I.e. I promise I won't trade it for fiat on an exchange.)

[CURRENT_YEAR + 1] will be the year of Bitcoin!

Other recent shutdowns:

Who	When	Why
__________________________________	____________	______________________________
Falcon Global Capital Bitcoin Fund	Dec. 9, 2014	Lack of interest
LocalBitcoins (Germany)	Dec. 9, 2014	In trouble with regulators
CoinJelly	Dec. 11, 2014	Reason unknown, users refunded.

That's just December. Many Bitcoin businesses shut down in 2014. None of those stole customer assets in a big way, so they didn't get as much press as Mt. Gox.

Over?   Ohh young grashopper.  Its not over.  Just look at Paycoin.

Pump and dumps haven't gone anywhere.   They've just had to adapt.  Its all about who can lie better and better.  Who can deceive more convincingly.

First it was the Government of Iceland on board with Auroracoin.  That had lots of people believing.

Now its Amazon, Walmart, and whoever - supposedly on board with Paycoin.

-B-

Here is one theory as to why BTC had a price decline in 2014.

http://cointelegraph.com/news/113221/has-china-abandoned-bitcoin