user52741: I read this question on money.stackexchange, in which a user asks how to tax the speculation gain they (involuntarily) made. This guy (or girl) bought BTC for a few hundred USD a few years ago, lost the respective harddrive, and when they found it again, the BTC were (supposedly) worth a million or so USD.
So I am wondering, why did BTC appreciate so dramatically in other currencies? Is it just because of rising demand, in turn due to increasing trust in BTC?
As a corollary, could the BTC appreciation also be driven by a speculative bubble?

Sorry if this is a very noob question.

user49354: some reasons for the price-increase:
-bitcoin becomes an official currency in japan
-Australia Will Recognize Bitcoin as Money and Protect Bitcoin Businesses, No Taxes
-many people know/buy bitcon now, who did not know bitcoin some months ago (in many countries) caused by increasing media coverage
-bitcoin becomes an alternative currency in venezuela, Nigeria and some other countries caused by internal political problems
-the scaling problem seems not to be finally solved but the segwit-activation could improve the scaling-situation
-Russia’s Parliament is Discussing the Legalization of Bitcoin
-meanwhile the blockchain-technology is more established: there are no known hacks of the blockchain self

user5406: Bitcoin is a digital asset that is impossible to counterfeit, easy to transfer globally, and scarce: the bitcoin supply is strictly limited to less than 21 million. Bitcoin is akin to cash—payments are irreversible, and since it's easy to verify that you got paid, you can get paid without needing to know who paid you. It's electronic cash, the native currency of the internet.
In a day and age, where commerce is increasingly global and online, surveillance capitalism is permeating all aspects of our society, and many nation states are trying to print themselves out of economic crises, the combination of the above properties appeals to various people for diverse reasons.
Over the past decade, the software used to generate and interact with the Bitcoin network has significantly matured. A thriving ecosystem of open source projects, businesses, users, and culture has sprung up. The growing adoption has only increased the utility of the network, which in turn has caused more and more people to try and get a slice of the finite amount of bitcoins offered on the market. Naturally, this network effect has resulted in an appreciating exchange rate, especially compared to heavily inflating national currencies.

52741: <p>I read <a href="https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/81518/found-a-heap-of-btc-no-documentation-what-do-i-do">this question</a> on money.stackexchange, in which a user asks how to tax the speculation gain they (involuntarily) made. This guy (or girl) bought BTC for a few hundred USD a few years ago, lost the respective harddrive, and when they found it again, the BTC were (supposedly) worth a million or so USD.</p>

<p>So I am wondering, why did BTC appreciate so dramatically in other currencies? Is it just because of rising demand, in turn due to increasing trust in BTC?</p>

<p>As a corollary, could the BTC appreciation also be driven by a speculative bubble?</p>

<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/PhBbs.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/PhBbs.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>Sorry if this is a very noob question.</p>
 49354: <p>some reasons for the price-increase:</p>

<p>-<a href="https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/bitcoin-in-japan-officially-recognized-in-april-asset-or-expense/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">bitcoin becomes an official currency in japan</a></p>

<p>-<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/australia-will-recognize-bitcoin-as-money-and-protect-bitcoin-businesses-no-taxes" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Australia Will Recognize Bitcoin as Money and Protect Bitcoin Businesses, No Taxes</a></p>

<p>-many people know/buy bitcon now, who did not know bitcoin some months ago (in many countries) caused by increasing media coverage</p>

<p>-bitcoin becomes an alternative currency in <a href="https://www.btc-echo.de/bitcoin-macht-weiter-fortschritte-in-venezuela/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">venezuela</a>, <a href="https://bitcoinblog.de/2017/01/31/was-passiert-mit-bitcoin-in-nigeria/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Nigeria</a> and some other countries caused by internal political problems</p>

<p>-the scaling problem seems not to be finally solved but the <a href="https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/countdown-segwit-these-are-dates-keep-eye/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">segwit-activation</a> could improve the scaling-situation</p>

<p>-<a href="https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/109564-2/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Russia’s Parliament is Discussing the Legalization of Bitcoin</a></p>

<p>-meanwhile the blockchain-technology is more established: there are no known hacks of the blockchain self</p>
 5406: <p>Bitcoin is a digital asset that is impossible to counterfeit, easy to transfer globally, and scarce: the bitcoin supply is strictly limited to less than 21 million. Bitcoin is akin to cash—payments are irreversible, and since it's easy to verify that you got paid, you can get paid without needing to know who paid you. It's electronic cash, the native currency of the internet.</p>
<p>In a day and age, where commerce is increasingly global and online, surveillance capitalism is permeating all aspects of our society, and many nation states are trying to print themselves out of economic crises, the combination of the above properties appeals to various people for diverse reasons.</p>
<p>Over the past decade, the software used to generate and interact with the Bitcoin network has significantly matured. A thriving ecosystem of open source projects, businesses, users, and culture has sprung up. The growing adoption has only increased the utility of the network, which in turn has caused more and more people to try and get a slice of the finite amount of bitcoins offered on the market. Naturally, this network effect has resulted in an appreciating exchange rate, especially compared to heavily inflating national currencies.</p>
