My sense is that as Bitcoin becomes more expensive, its price base will become more insulated. That is, the massive valleys we've seen on the historical price charts will become less likely to occur.
My thinking is this: the longer the technology holds up, the greater people's faith in its ability to survive and thrive. In turn, this creates a seller's market, where holding for investment purposes becomes a more compelling proposition. That means more people will buy and hold their Bitcoin, banking on its potential to continue to appreciate. Rinse and repeat... the price continues northwards.
The ultimate result in this scenario will be less liquidity of larger transactions.
Of course, so many factors (macro, micro, technical, etc) combine to contribute to the price of Bitcoin, but this seems to me to explain, in part, why we are on a steady upward trajectory at the moment.