but the daily trading volume has been very low lately even during the big dump that happened a couple of days ago. in my experience this suggests that those with large amounts of bitcoin and even those with smaller amounts and even the weak hands are no longer falling for the panic sell encouragement and are not selling anymore. the reason for the drop was market manipulation which couldn't even last for more than a day.
I would say that the dump was real. Not every dump is about manipulation. Only because psychology is involved permanently doesn't mean it is manipulation. Some tend to overreact while others are really case-hardened. The low trading volume means that neither the bulls nor the bears feel the urge or the motivation to pull the trigger.