Bitcoin Skyrockets to Above $5000

No. How else can one accurately compare how valuable a currency is (Bitcoin is one of those, right?) without comparing it to other currencies?

Success should be gauged by daily transaction growth, network growth, and decreasing transaction fees, all of which are slowly improving. Price growth is a nice corollary with these factors, although it is disjointed in terms of timing. That being said, price is still important because it translates the value of that asset to our current medium of exchange, just like we do with all other assets. It's sort of like the "easiest" way to track bitcoin's success, even if it has little to do with the fundamentals of the asset.

edit: Also, Bitcoin should never be considered something that will entirely replace any other currency. There is room for both (or many) to exist (all serving slightly different purposes), and it will be many years before we know what a good natural balance is between both USD and BTC.

Bitcoin's success is measured by many other factors by actual Bitcoin lovers. The most important thing being how many real world transactions you could do using Bitcoin.

But such data will not be of interest to the rest of the world. It is the media that is obsessed with how Dollar performs against Bitcoin.

? None of the employees have been able to cash out yet