Is there any evidence to suggest your theory of cause and effect? My theory is that some mainstream news hits first, and that induces new speculative traders, not the other way around. In my opinion, speculation started mostly when Romney's tax returns were being held for ransom. This built some speculative traders, which drove up the valuation, which induced reports on "the resurgence of bitcoin" which fed even more speculation, like a vicious cycle. In my opinion, this will culminate with a confidence crushing crash, and that's unfortunate, because IMHO, it's due to greed not fundamentals.