Bitcoin was for rather long time up and down mostly between 210 and 290.
It was rather high lately, but that doesn't mean much. If it will go under 210 then yes, it's time to panic. Else.. it's normal, especially now, since people are back from holidays and started playing again on the market.
And don't forget that USD is getting stronger every day and Bitcoin is mostly calculated in USD, so Bitcoin is still good.
All other discussions, motives, like Snowden, XT, attacks and such are.. just diversions.
If you look at the timing of the dump, it is pretty obvious: BBC reported about the possible fork, many media around the world picked the story up - it seems as if financial guys who don't understand the technical aspects panicked and sold a lot of coins. Combined with some flaws in the Bitfinex-exchange, this created a mess.
Why do you think that Bitcoin is tied to the USD? Do you really believe that Chinese care a lot about USD-Bitcoin? Or Europe? Russia?
I, for my part, am interested in Yuan and Euro, while USD is considered weak - and getting weaker.