EDIT: OK, so I read the wiki and it seems that the coin will be evolving to something more advanced called Gridcoin Research. The whole thing looks very complex though compared to the old model where you simply get rewards based on the no. of BOINC shares, although I understand the new design is superior, so it looks like I've got some reading to do.
the reason of the market cap rise is the addition of gridcoin research to the exchanges, so it's fully launched now ;-)