Popularity and manipulation has no correlation. Bitcoin is difficult to manipulate because the user base is huge. It's easier for whales to manipulate the altcoin market as it's smaller in size. To manipulate Bitcoin market, I huge amount of Bitcoin holding is needed and only corporate have such kind of money. It's rare for individual whales to have such kind of Bitcoins which will allow them to manipulate the market.
Memecoins are the easiest to manipulate. Rather majority of the memecoins are hugely manipulated to give benefits to the creators.
I think the OP might have used the word “popular” to describe the user base of bitcoin, the diversity of bitcoin as a digital asset is what set it apart in terms of manipulation or even any potential risk as more people run nodes which is part of its security. In terms of manipulation is it as you have pointed out, the amount needed for any manipulation is definitely not an amount that even if a corporation will never wants to give out.
Memcoins are just those shitcoins that one person can hold upto 30 percent of the coin and once they liquidate the coin the entire coin feels it and goes dust, same for the low market cap coins.
More than 50% of BTC is in the hands of individuals. WHales can manipulate the market, but the influence is not too huge.
Exactly the movement of some supply sometimes aren’t that much to cause problem to bitcoin price rather it is the media most at times exaggerating everything and thereby causing FUD among the holders or investors. The large diversity is what set bitcoin apart.