Was it due to Ransomware?

[Gotottack]

I think that ransomware attacks are just a drop in the ocean of bitcoin; the recent attacks have little to nothing to do with the price boost we experienced recently.
I would be more prone to consider the growing interest into the crypto currencies of more people from all around the world as the main cause of the spike we witnessed.

Ransomware is no longer a new thing, it has appeared many times before, and it has survived so far. There are many hacker groups in the world, although their software is different, but they have all the same features, and they use bitcoin to get paid. It can be said that bitcoin has helped hackers steal money from others, but bitcoin is not the cause.

Ransomware is nowhere near as successful as people make it out to be.  The main thing that hurt this virus set of programs was the leak of the code.  When there was a smaller group deploying the virus, there was a higher percentage of people paying out.  The widespread ability to release your own ransomware ruined that virus for those that were using it.

The increased publicity, and the fact that most people knew that there was a fifty percent chance that your virus was deployed by an amateur, meaning that paying the fee was not likely to get anything fixed.  If the ransoms asked for are small, then the effect on the price of Bitcoin is negligible.  If the ransom is too high, then Bitcoin was never touched as the ransom was never paid. 

I don't think the ransom ware was the cause of any increase in price lately. It has really a small effect on bitcoin prices even if there was a mass attack that happened all over the world. Though, the positive effect of what happened was that bitcoins gain a bit of popularity because of this even it was in a bad light.

[eternalgloom]

I think that ransomware attacks are just a drop in the ocean of bitcoin; the recent attacks have little to nothing to do with the price boost we experienced recently.
I would be more prone to consider the growing interest into the crypto currencies of more people from all around the world as the main cause of the spike we witnessed.

I agree. But what kind of "growing interest" is there in cryptocurrencies? Real interest for utility and usage that will benefit ordinary people like us or interest in making a lot of money, doing speculation and getting rich quick?

It's probably a combination of interests, I hear that Bitcoin is actually getting pretty popular in Japan for it's use as a currency, so I don't think it's all speculation.
But if you see a sudden price spike of 500 dollars in a day, that's most definitely fueled by pure speculation.

I wonder what the price will do if Australia regulates Bitcoin.

[Wind_FURY]

I think that ransomware attacks are just a drop in the ocean of bitcoin; the recent attacks have little to nothing to do with the price boost we experienced recently.
I would be more prone to consider the growing interest into the crypto currencies of more people from all around the world as the main cause of the spike we witnessed.

I agree. But what kind of "growing interest" is there in cryptocurrencies? Real interest for utility and usage that will benefit ordinary people like us or interest in making a lot of money, doing speculation and getting rich quick?

It's probably a combination of interests, I hear that Bitcoin is actually getting pretty popular in Japan for it's use as a currency, so I don't think it's all speculation.

I disagree with this because there are no solid numbers and facts to back up this claim. I believe it is all speculative interest that is driving the market right now.

But if you see a sudden price spike of 500 dollars in a day, that's most definitely fueled by pure speculation.

I wonder what the price will do if Australia regulates Bitcoin.

Regulation is overall bad for Bitcoin. It limits its use. Just use fiat if you all want a regulated currency.