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Today, the price of Bitcoin is around $165 per BTC, up from $125 per BTC a week ago. What’s causing this dramatic price increase? There are a number of factors at work which we highlight in this article.

The dust settles on Silk Road

Just a few weeks ago, the major news running through the Bitcoin community was the seizure by federal authorities of Bitcoin drug marketplace Silk Road. Silk Road’s operator, Ross William Ulbricht, was arrested for drug trafficking, attempted murder, and other felonies.

Read our full coverage of the Silk Road seizure and Ulbricht’s arrest

Immediately after this news broke the price of Bitcoin dropped nearly 15%, but recovered quickly as people realized that the largest bad actor int he Bitcoin ecosystem was taken out of play.

Baidu, the “Google of China” starts accepting Bitcoin

This week, Baidu, the #1 website in China, started accepting Bitcoin for some of its services. This is a great move in broader acceptance of the digital currency Bitcoin, especially considering China’s previous stances on virtual currencies.

Increased volume on BTCChina

Trading activity dramatically increased on BTCChina, China’s first Bitcoin exchange. See the chart below for evidence of that.

All in all, these factors, especially the activity in China, have made Bitcoin feel like a more secure and intriguing investment, therefore increasing the price in the short term.

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Baidu is a Chinese powerhouse, ranked the #1 website in China and commonly referred to as the “Google of China”.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Chinese site Baidu is now accepting Bitcoin.

“At this point, Baidu is only taking bitcoin for Jiasule, a security service that provides firewalls and helps fend of distributed denial of service attacks,” reports the Chronicle.

This is a great move in broader acceptance of the digital currency Bitcoin, especially considering China’s previous stances on virtual currencies.

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