It's a speculative bubble, we've been having and studying those since the Tulip Mania of 1634—1637. The only novel thing about it is what thing exactly is being hyped.
Another aspect is how quickly it becomes centralized and privately controlled. And then there is a whole story about social media hype and anxiety. It also had recent heavy real world effects: The protestors in Kazakhstan have shut down a large bitcoin facility.
It's an interesting experiment to say the least. Sure there are parallels to previous instances in history, which is why many of us have been very critical of it, but it seems to be a unique blend.