internet's favorite virtual currency is up over 230 percent since the beginning of the year and up 40 percent from Monday to Wednesday alone.

The latest leg up may be because it looks like the market may finally be going mainstream – now, U.S. banks are getting involved.

Nick Colas, Chief Market Strategist at ConvergEx Group, wrote in a recent note to clients that "there is much to learn from this first online success story in the world of stateless currencies," and there's a lesson to be had in global economics from the Bitcoin market.

Of course, as is the case with most good economics lessons, it's all about supply and demand.