When btc gets a dump, and the same microsecond the alts get a dump as well, it cannot be people being greedy/fearful, right? it must be a coupling in some form to the mastercoin, btc?
It's arbitrage bots.
When BTC dumps, there is an instant discrepancy in the alt trading pairs like BTC/ETH and then USD/ETH and in turn ETH/XRP etc, etc. The bots can scalp a nice profit by balancing out the ratios but there is not as much liquidity in the alt market so the moves are larger either up or down.
The WO thread still manages to deliver advanced on-topic wisdom. On Christmas night, mixed with banter and greetings.