So, That wacky rally today looks to be unique to Coinbase. Bittrex and Poloniex show highs below 16,000. So if this doesn't make BTC look like idiotic tulip mania I don't know what does. All these new customers, buying into the $19,xxx's and then what happens?? THE SITE GOES DOWN! This is the worst case PR disaster I can think of at the moment. Can you imagine buying your first BTC at $19,500 and when the site comes back up it's going for $16,000??? UGH!!
If you are swayed by recent media reports and rush in to buy bitcoins at these levels, you have only yourself to blame if Bitcoin crashes. We shouldn't think of this as a PR disaster for Bitcoin. Some volatility is good, so that we don't have noobs rushing in at every point.