While it's true that whales can have an impact on the price of Bitcoin and other altcoins, I don't think they're the primary cause of the recent drops in price for most cryptocurrencies because I believe you're greatly underestimating the power that the public has on the price of cryptocurrencies especially when panicking ensues and people want to get out. This sort of dump can be a great time for whales and almost anyone to begin accumulating coins, though, which I do agree with.