Most of the cryptos have experienced a similar process. Those which had an ICO last year, all spiked the very first days just to quickly get its value down after all the pre-ico discount "hunters" sold their assets to get some quick money. Sometimes even the project team members.

At the very beginning of any crypto life, there's big amounts concentrated on few hands, speculators have a much bigger impact on price and global volumes are so small, any media rumor can generate a big price movement.

As market cap grows, volatility gets reduced and the market starts behaving more mature, Technical Analisys can be applied as mass behaviour starts to develop, an overall, the market is much more consolidated showing smoother trends.

As you well point out, the first phase leads to the second. The good thing is we are still in the very beginning of the platforms and cryptos which will survive and eventually get some of the money from the ones not delivering, so holding and growing is still the best strategy for me.