Can you please point to an event, statistic, or underlying betterment of BTC's protocol that can justify the recent rise?


Japan:
I am sure money from this market has made a difference, but not on the scale we are seeing.

Code:
Taking todays announcement into consideration, there has not been a major settlement with the scaling issue.

Institutional, Hedge Funds, Governments:
I've heard rumors that money from these type of places has finally wised up and decided to enter the game. This rumor is often repeated, but never verified. I actually think once this rumor becomes a reality(sometime in the future), that is when we will see 10k per coin and up.

Bottom line, BTC's market cap and the liquidity on the exchanges still allows for wales to pump and dump. Wales aren't the only ones to blame. There are plenty of average people/traders buying BTC because they think this gravy train will not stop.

In fact, this thread is a good indicator we are in a bubble or just entering one. A bubble is when everyone at the party is drunk and cannot think rationally. If I say "BTC will only keep going up", that is an IRRATIONAL statement. Change the subject BTC with Apple stock or Real Estate prices and you will see how stupid it sounds. The fact that people believe BTC cannot be dumped means they are currently drunk.