Thanks @silverbug it is hard to know where the money is coming from. Some speculation is that Tether is just printing USDT and pumping the market with it. Others think it's just the mainstream herd and institutional investors finally moving in.
I share your concerns about the central bank and government intervention. I have wondered why the SEC knocked back the Bitcoin ETF....but then seems to have rushed through Futures trading. When it comes to "Protecting Investors" an ETF has surely got to be safer than a leveraged Futures contract....? It just doesn't smell right to me.