the market is not being "artificially held up". if the orders are there, and they get hit.. it means people are willing to invest at that price.. that is the main definition of a free market. nothing artificial about it.. and even if it was, every single high volume crypto has whales who try to control levels at times.. stocks as well. this is an exchange, with different people with various amounts of money to invest. this is how it works. you are just seeing a bit more transparency here than you are used to.