I'd argue that Bitcoin owns it's meteoric rise to SilkRoad and drugs in general.
Many people 'got into' bitcoin in order to be able to purchase stuff on SilkRoad or similar. I know I'm one of them and I'm really thankful for those 3 hits of acid which cost me 3.3 BTC at the time. The transaction worked so I've decided to invest a lot more in Bitcoin. Up to this day I'm living off that investment and able to work on my dream projects. And the acid was very good as well ;).
<i>To make matters worse, while Shrem was CEO he was simultaneously BitInstant’s compliance officer, responsible for ensuring that his company followed the law.</i><p>Impressive amount of hubris there.
It's interesting that Bitcoin is not classified as a currency by some parts of the government but it was considered a money-transmitting business.