I think that since QE2, many people are trying to protect their wealth by selling dollars. Maybe that's why bitcoins have increased its price so much.
Panic selling the USD for BTC
i doubt it...IMO the current exchange rate is the result of speculation and hoarding, there's 5 million BTC out there yet only a fraction of that gets turned over at exchanges, just look at today's MtGox spread, High:0.97Low: 0.845 with that sort of volatility the exchange rate could go anywhere.Not panic selling.
You don't need panic to protect yourself against inflation.
It is also interesting having money in different places so you can access them in different ways.
If your bank closes temporarily, maybe you can liquidate your bitcoins faster than the dollars in your account.