That is a fact, Bitcoin have now many more adopters than it had attracted back then and more adopters simply means, much more demand for Bitcoin and by extension, more valuable the coin becomes. Ultimately the coin becomes greatly decentralized as more people adopt it and that can be a reason, overwhelming drop in price would no longer be all said and done.

That is not a good prayer and should it come to pass, a number of people especially noob would be devastated and may leave the crypto-world to never come back. At any rate, I don't see the market dropping below the $3000 price level anytime soon until the November hard fork imbroglio sets in and possibly upset the market, though that too would be short-lived. Until then, do relax and make some money by buying low and selling high from the daily swing.

I don't see what setback you are talking about here, if there was one, we won't be talking about over $3500 per Bitcoin only few days after such an announcement. The fact that the market was able to bounce back from under $3000 is a clear testimony to the fact that still without China, Bitcoin is still posed to get to where it was headed. The rest of the world are behind Bitcoin and they are in the majority and that is all that matters.

Something worthy of note from all that, is that notwithstanding that the overall market bias suggests price would rally, it should not be taken for granted how low price may drop before plummeting eventually, actually FUD happens for some reasons and technical analysis can come handy here to spotlight what range one should be looking at.

You might like to recall that China also tried to ban Bitcoin and even though Bitcoin wasn't half as popular as it is today, yet they only ended up popularizing Bitcoin the more. This time around, I think they are fighting a losing battle because Bitcoin was created with situation like this in mind. Bitcoin is fast maturing and demand for it can only remain on the increase, because it meets specific financial challenges.

Of course they are not the same thing! Small investors need to be more meticulous of what price they end up buying because their small amount can so easily be wiped out by market volatility unlike whales, who can afford to wait out the market until a green light is finally on.

Yes the community ought to be celebrating because it is actually a good thing happened to us. On a number of occasions in the past, the market have had its soar punctured by China Acupuncture needles because they are afraid of Yuan losing it to Bitcoin and yet there not much they can do to stop Bitcoin, as a matter of fact, they are already late the revolution across globe already started in 2009.

They are of course fighting a losing battle and their experience way back 2013 ought to have told them better, but no, they keep underestimating Bitcoin and the revolution it has unleashed. I think they had better learn from their past that attempts made anywhere in the globe to eclipse Bitcoin ended up making it more popular and in high demand. History is repeating itself one more time!

You're sounding more like the spokes person for China, so where are thou evidence to support all those claims? Are you aware that China also attempted to ban Bitcoin way back 2013, which resulted in taking the wind out of Bitcoin's sail back then and now in 2017, they are still lost what to do with Bitcoin
https://www.theverge.com/2013/12/5/5177550/bitcoin-banned-from-chinese-banks-amid-fears-of-laundering

One problem with the suggestion above is that if you spend all your money to buy Bitcoin, you would be hard pressed to sell them off after a few days to meet your needs and then the whole essence for the purchase would have been defeated. Best to always buy as much coins as one can afford to hodl and forget until when they are quite profitable and you think the time is right to sell.

They obviously did not envisage Bitcoin could be this tenacious and had probably looked forward to its abysmal crash, but the market instead gave them the fit of their lives and now they're trying to lick their wounds. Bitcoin we must realize have spread far and near and is now far more decentralized and more formidable than where it stood couple of years back. That is a dream come through and actually one of the goals Satoshi had in mind - a currency not manipulable by the governments or financial institutions like Goldman Sachs.

I also agree that having tested the $5000 level once, it won't be long before that level is finally breached and now that the market have fully contained the upset from China, hopeful this week would see Bitcoin recovering all lost grounds and $5000 price level stands to be retested. After that, I would expect a pull back as November approaches and the talks of a hard fork takes center stage again. Soon as that is discounted by the market, then all roads would be clear for Bitcoin to leap as high as it could.

That would be a nice and effective approach to buying Bitcoin amidst uncertainties. In forex trade, it is known as averaging and it was premised on the fact that the price of an asset never continues indefinitely in anyone direction. However the choice of values as above is faulty, they're too close, it would more or less be like buying at one and same price thrice. For an effective buying range, one has to put Bitcoin's ATR (Average  True Range) into consideration and that would ensue one would not be compelled to take more than a handful of positions before the market reverses.

In as far as humans are involved here, FUD is here to stay. For some people, that would mean, leaving their money on the table and running as far as their feet could carry them, while for some others, FUD is an invitation to make some good money. As for Bitcoin Cash taking over, well evening at Bitcoin's weakest moments, that would be a tall order because Bitcoin community is still the one to beat, we're resolute in seeing Bitcoin's moon landing.

It is not uncommon for the market of any asset to be bearish at one time or the other and yes in the coming month, as a result of the proposed hard fork by proponents of Segwit2x, the red line in the image below may be breached, but beyond that a huge rebound as always should be expected.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2177120.msg21909403#msg21909403

Obviously recent goings-on in the community and market already have answered all your questions and just in case you still want more:

1. it is the global market and not just the western market that are out and already absorbing every Bitcoin China is letting go;

2. Bitcoin is now legal in Japan and South Korea and companies are springing up, by the time China wakes up from their slumber, they would find themselves miles behind.

I think you had be prepared for the disappointment that is sure to come your way, because the price of Bitcoin is not going to be declining for the rest of the year as you hinted. Already you can see how it has been able to contain China's tantrum like water poured on the back of a duck. Sometime in November though, we shall be making a decision on Segwit2x's proposed hard fork and we might experience a drop in price, but upon bouncing back, it would be a leap to the moon. The Bitcoin we see today is more resolute and tenacious you can't hold it down.

No they are not trying to ban Bitcoin or altcoins, rather they are working at centralizing the activities of exchanges in China, so that they could control and manipulate Bitcoin and other coins as they do with Yuan. That is however going to be their undoing because Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general is beyond China. Interestingly, Japan and South Korea have positioned themselves to fill any void that would be created by China's shortsightedness.

I think the right question to ask is what is making Bitcoin price to always want to go up after every fall, because that is where the possibility to making millions would emanate from. Something in Bitcoin boosts people's confidence  to buy and hold it regardless of what is going on in the market! That must be the secret people are tapping into to become rich through Bitcoin.

I see where that is coming from, see red line in image, but technically the $3000 price level is more of a psychological level and interestingly the bulls were lying in wait for it to be tested, to jump into the market and they did just that as the $3000 price level is sitting right on the 61.8% Fibonacci level!

Remember the Great wall of China? Yeah, China have age long history of building fences to separate its people from the rest of the world and that is not about to change even now as this is something that started way back 7th century BC and their goal back then - fortification and control is nothing changed from their present day, "Anything for Yuan stance!" Can someone please tell them that protectionism no longer serve its purpose in today's world! That the best way to bring out the best out of anything is to allow it the breathing space to compete with others!