People were holding expecting news and coin burn to produce gains, that restricted supply and even helped produce some of the gains. The gains, once large enough, probably drew in traders attracted to any shiny green they see. It's usually too late to buy once the exponential growth has begun, but oddly, people keep trying to get in on rallies without even knowing why they're happening. Once holders started selling, freeing up supply, the price fell and the fair-weather buyers saw red and sold low after buying high, further increasing supply and reducing demand, and thus here we are. This the downside of hype. Not sure how traders like this stay in business, but they seem to be everywhere all the time. Do they have family money or something to burn?
Hard to say whether there will be another rally in advance of the news or thereafter. Might already be baked into the price. If the news isn't Apple/NASA/discoveryofextraterrestriallifefundedbyEMC2, might even drive the price down more.