[kolev]

I think the news about China is pretty bad as it cut off one of the arms of Bitcoin - being used as currency. With very limited use in e-commerce so far, I think it will stay as a speculation tool for a while. I personally think it will drop below $1,000 as it ran out of steam trying to break $1,200 several times without much success. The drop in transaction volume after it passed $1,000 speaks for itself, too. Also, a lot of speculators are now looking into altcoins, which hurts Bitcoin, too.

[nazgulnarsil]

bitcoin can't really stagnate, inflation is still over 10%. $4.3+ million USD equivalent demand must enter the system each day to maintain a steady price. Maybe after 2016 when inflation hits 4%. Right now it's either up or down.

[kolev]

Well, it can't completely - even if it drops back to $500, it still will be better than USD or CNY. I just don't think there's much interest at the moment for price above $1,000 and Merrill Lynch/BofA pretty muched capped the price temporarily at $1,300. There's another dump happening right now - the temporary increase was nothing, but the typical "dead cat bounce" we've seen before. Too much bad news isn't always good news!