Well TPTB are in a fucked up situation. In times of the internet where everyone can get the information he is looking for regarding Bitcoin and crypto, the effects of spreading FUD are becoming weaker and weaker. So it doesn't matter who holds coins. As soon as he knows what Bitcoin is about and has decided not to sell he has become a hardcore hodler.
Otherwise I could say the same about you. As long as you haven't sold your coins, Bitcoin will not move up. And that is totally bull shit! You know this.
Seconded. Unlike stock markets, the crypto market is where TPTB will have to go down from their thrones and mix themselves up with what they call "the plebs". You dont know anymore who is holding crypto. The guy sitting next to you in a bus, he could be a hodler, and you will never know.
Anyway, the previous bullrun left a subtle residue that is running under the current bear market. It can explode again at any minute. So no, nobody needs to sell anything, we just need new buyers.