There is no way to know who controls the market, I believe that the level we are today would have to be a joint action in order to have some influence on the flow of btc.
the price is always dominated by big players, so if there is a very fast price movement and is more likely to side with the big players then we can be sure there is a price game going on. Bitcoin has entered a free and global market so it is a big investor who will always get more profits from small players. if we want profit, we can follow price movements and follow the steps of large investors, because the potential profits we can get.
We don't know who they are as a person but we know they are whales.
Only whales can control the market, if you believe that the market can be manipulated, well, they are responsible for that.
Saying we don't go against the market is similar to not going against the whales and in order to benefit on their action
we have to know what exactly we are doing so we can just follow them and earn like them.