Does anyone seriously expect a bubble until consumer adoption is cheap and easy?
The last few bubbles happened when bitcoin was far more difficult to obtain. When the price starts to climb again a mania will follow.
Yes, but that was due to widespread media coverage. By now pretty much everyone who could invest in BTC knows about it. Its about consumer adoption now.
I mean, sure, basicly you couldnt rule out that the next bubble will be due to aliens buying it after the inter-galactic news network publishes an article about a "fantastic and innovative payment system developed by some ape-like beings on a boring planet on the edge of the milky way".