It's a fairly simple reason, many people see Verge as the competitor to Monero and as such, turbulence or issues there could boost users in XVG.
What is this threat?
Monero uses the Cryptonight algorithm. For the most part, some people designation Cryptonight as "ASIC resistant"; however one company is actually building an ASIC for Cryptonight coins.
The big problem
Usually going from CPU/GPU mining to ASICs isn't a huge deal, however, it is in situations where the current network is fairly small compared to the hashpower of the new ASICS, which could lead to either 51% attacks or dumping by "big miners".
How much hashpower?
The network hashrate of XMR is about 250 M/Hs. The calculated Cryptonight metrics for 1 unit of the "Multilcet" ASIC is 650KH/s (0.65MH/s).
About 385 of these ASICs would be equivalent to the entire network.
How many does the company plan to produce?
At least 10,0000
Is it vapourware?
This is the most obvious question, the miner has to actually be produced and output at it's extremely high claims to be a serious threat.
This week they actually ran tests on the new ASIC chip, so development is further along than just an idea.
The company itself while obscure to most western investors, is comprised, backed and advocated by some well known and connected people in Russia, several advisers to Putin and well known businessmen. People who probably don't want to get egg on their face from a possible failure. A bit different from a "Butterfly Labs" or other dubious mining manufacturers in the past.
I did my own research and I'm comfortable enough with this company to go out and buy Verge as a result of the possible impact.
Also important to note: The ASIC doesn't just mine Cryptonight, it also mines Etash; it's not built exclusively for Monero.
That's what lead me to get some XVG, a bit of a different angle than most investors but thought it'd be interesting to share.