[ankeshk]

Blockchain.info has this chart that tracks the number of bitcoins traded on known exchanges vs the number of bitcoins exchanged in all other transactions.

This chart gives a somewhat measure of if the hoarding has gone up or not. It gives us a good idea about bitcoin speculation.

http://blockchain.info/charts/tx-trade-ratio

The lower the number on this chart, the less the speculation. Recently, the number has almost always been under 20. This number was at 225 during the July 2011 bitcoin bubble.

(More explanation about this chart: http://codinginmysleep.com/measuring-bitcoin-speculation/)

So while we would think that more people would be hoarding bitcoins, the data shows thats not necessarily true.

Combining this chart with the number of bitcoin transactions per day chart gives us a good indication that the price is increasing because more people are hearing about bitcoins and using it. (Number of transactions per day have gone up from 6,000 a year ago to 70,000 today.)