The price of Bitcoin is set by Mt Gox. There is no dispute about that. The fact that the sell off of about one hundred thousand bitcoins has dropped the price nearly 50%. One hundred thousand bitcoins is about one percent of the total mined so far. Ninety-nine percent of the bitcoins lose half of their value because of the holdings of one person dumping them and causing people to panic. The opposite can also happen where one person can drive the price up, though panic buying is usually very short-lived as seen by the sharp upward spikes and long-term valleys.
These wild fluctuations are the biggest deterrent to widespread acceptance, yet we allow it to continue. Either the largest bitcoin holders do not really believe in the future of this technology, or they do not know how to fix the problem of wild fluctuation. Perhaps it's because it is an insignificant holding to them or they want to kill it. Either way, large Bitcoin holders do not seem to care about the future of Bitcoin or they would do something about the panic markets.
Some folks might say that Bitcoin price is just fine wherever it is, but the fact is that it cannot be taken seriously until certain technical problems are dealt with. The protocol is developing well, but price is not being addressed by any developers. Why not? The centralized market is a single point of failure for a decentralized currency. This should be addressed by developers, else we allow bullies to control the adaption of Bitcoin.
