I never mining nor trade with the DRK so I was wondering why his price increased strongly. Thank you.
because the privacy-model is pretty strong,
and a lot of people got informed by the letstalkbitcoin-podcast for the first time in depth.
and the re-branding is thought to give it a more mass-adoption friendly name.
edit: and the fact that btc looks pretty stable compared to 2014 is likely also a factor.