Adrian-x: excellent post.

I admit, I was only lurking during the 2011 crash, so I can't speak with authority...

I think you're right about the increased trade volume. It is essential to finding the optimal exchange rate.

In 2011 there weren't enough bids (buys) and asks (sells) to meet the demand, so a relatively small number of coins made too much of a change in the price.

And that leads directly to the infrastructure problem: Gox claims they got flooded with the volume of orders. The infrastructure problems have their effect on the price. I think it would be better if the infrastructure scaled before the volume arrived, but I can understand that sometimes the growth is surprising or erratic.

But if Gox doesn't pick up the slack they're just leaving money on the table for someone else to take.