>how could such a determination be possible? At the start of 2017 there were still lots of uncertainties and risk about how the Bitcoin ecosystem would handle

>how could such a determination be possible? At the start of 2017 there were still lots of uncertainties and risk about how the Bitcoin ecosystem would handle certain waring factions inside of it. Will businesses be able to write closed-door agreements and coopt the digital asset or Will the protocol remain immutable, continuing it's value proposition to the market. The second option succeeded, risk was removed: that's a reasonable thesis to a price appreciation. Markets hate risks/unknowns.