I recently learned I am one-degree of separation from a great whale manipulator. Manipulation is happening. I also learned that the exchanges realize this and are cracking down on it behind the scenes (they obviously don't want to come out and discuss this openly). And besides, as the market grows, manipulation is becoming more difficult anyways.
But it's important to note that the great whales do not want bitcoin to crash to the point where it truly damages confidence. They know they cannot quickly cash out 100,000 BTC and nor do they want to because they believe that bitcoin is the future of money.
In fact, the more I think about "manipulation" and "whales" the less I see it as manipulation in the first place. What's wrong with putting up a 1,000 BTC sell wall to try to drop the price? By doing this you are risking a larger whale eating your wall in a single bite--live by the sword and die by the sword it seems.
In conclusion, the great whales--more often than not--are allies of bitcoin.
I agree. I'm not sure why "manipulation" is seen as illegitimate. Maybe I should read up on history. Can someone point me to something in history that meant trouble and triggered all the regulation we have in the "regulated" markets?
In my current naive mind, I can see a "manipulation problem" only when "unfair advantages" are being played, like in the case of naked short-selling, for example.