is this the start of a new bitcoin bubble? I hope so.
Bubble's make BTC look bad.
it scares people away, who wants to invest time/money in something that will collapse massively at a certain point.
Steady growth is best, even if it takes ages.
I agree. I have theorized that the WORST thing that could happen to btc is another bubble. Look how many people lost a lot of money during the 2013 run up and subsequent crash. Do you think they are waiting to get their hands back on some more btc? Probably not! It leaves a bad taste in peoples mouth and makes them much less likely to consider buying/holding/using btc again.
I lost some money during the crash, but luckily got out before the price went down too far. I've been watching very closely since then, and waiting for the real bottom to hit. I'm still thinking going back to $200 or so is possible when the greek/chinese frenzy dies down.
I'm sorry but this is a bit of nonsense. Bubbles are one of the main driving force behind Bitcoin adoption.
No I think bubbles would be the absolute worst thing for adoption. I mean yes it gets btc a lot of press and attention, but you really think big time merchants want anything to do with a "currency" that goes thru multiple "bubbles" each year? No that will make it harder and harder for btc to look legitimate, and I've read the CEO of overstock say its a hassle for returns. They could just say we accept btc but returns only in fiat and make it easier than refunding in btc, but I think the volatility is a much bigger issue for adoption.
BTC is irrelevant as it currently stands when speaking of retail/commercial usage. Merchants willing to accept it will adapt whichever way they believe is best for them to conduct business. Meanwhile, in the real world, Bitcoin is a commodity and is getting traded as such. It doesn't matter what you think, history has shown that bubbles drive adoption like nothing else. Bust and boom cycles are Bitcoin's killer app. Greed is Bitcoin killer app.
Any smart person will tell you volatility is actually important for Bitcoin adoption. It attracts traders, it attract investors and we are in a phase where this is all we should care about : attracting more liquidity into the ecosystem. Again, it may hinder retail adoption but this is not important because until we increase Bitcoin's market cap at least 10-100x retail use will remain marginal.
Bitcoin first needs to establish itself as a high beta store of value and safe haven before we can actually begin to consider it as the commercial currency of the internet. Anything else is putting the cart before the horse.
I think if price would still keep steady growing, many investors who now just looking from time-to-time on btc price, will buy it, believing that it's preparation for another bubble. And that's how another bubble will start. 
