The majority of the market for cryptocurrency has changed over the years unfortunately. We pushed for mainstream adoption so we get investors or traders who are used to bank regulations and other centralized financial institutions. I really doubt the demand for privacy coins would be as high as it was back then.
Correct. As Bitcoin and altcoins go mainstream and the liquidity and interest increases more people join, people who mostly do not care about privacy and are okey with companies and exchanges asking for KYC.
If we want to talk about privacy, we should not fool ourselves and accept the reality first, so we can improve it. There is a reason why big companies who blatantly spy on us are at the top of Wall Street: people use their services, otherwise they would not be in such powerful position.
Monero still have a long path to go, but I believe still there is room for adoption.