No people really control the market, but whales or a group of big traders have the power to dump-pump the price. Sometimes the demand can be created by spreading good or bad issues. If people are influenced by the issues, they may be interested to buy more or prefer to hold their capital, depending on what issue it is. Whales or big traders won't do this all the time, that's why I said no people fully control the crypto market.
Maybe you're right. After all, the crypto market extends far beyond centralized exchanges. Whales and big traders may manipulate centralized exchanges, but they can't manipulate decentralized exchanges and/or atomic swaps (at least not yet). What greatly influences Bitcoin's price is stuff that happens in the mainstream world. Whenever something good related to Bitcoin happens in the real world, prices go up. Otherwise, not. We've entered a period where hype has faded away, leading us to price stagnation across exchanges. This happens all of the time, so it should be the least reason to worry about. What matters is that Bitcoin at its core, remains decentralized. As long as it stays that way, no one will be able to control it. Just my thoughts
