Why has Bitcoin traded in a choppy range recently between 8.5 and 9 despite crazy coronavirus news? The feds refused to allow an ETF on Bitcoin, saying that Bitcoin is too subject to price manipulations. Clearly the CME futures markets is putting some floors and ceilings in. Guys are selling volatility with cheap way out of the money puts n calls. Or is something fishier going on? Even gold has bumped up. Crazy coronavirus news followed by the Fed easing should be mooning Bitcoin! WTF?
So, what do the whales do when they frolic with the Bitcoin waves? What whaley games do they play? The feds take it as a given that the whales are playing their usual non-regulated classic Wall Street frauds that have proved so popular over the centuries. From the 19th century on these are
1) trading on insider information ( tough to do with bitcoin unless you have Satoshi's mobile number) and
2) "hanging paper" - the fraud of over securitizing and trading any asset until worthless. We could say various shitcoins have proven to be paper hangers. But we could also say the Austrian economist school teaches us the hanging paper scam is being masterminded by fiat central banks as they print their way to zero over the millenniums.
3) forming pools of whales to play real fun reindeer games like market price control. Let's focus on this charming pack trick. Ring warfare, coordinated market collusion. All the whales together on three ! Pump n dump! or short and distort if you prefer. Or short squeeze... Set a price wall!
Are y'all fans of Fontas? seems to be running pumps on Twitter, some folks hate him....
The basic whale move we all know and love: the pump and dump. Here's a fun annotated version. A simple maneuver, can be spotted by a child. Often clearly seen executed in the altcoin space but was arguably probably pulled off in 2017. Must work great most of the time, because God knows we see a lot of it. A common observation on the fabulous CoinGekko shows an intial listing bump, often as part of a solo pump & crash back to oblivion. Pump and dump is built with news and fake information, and also with volume buys followed by sells. Short and distort is to short a stock and then slander the company in every way possible. Everyone's fav pump n dump ? ETH
The short squeeze was a favorite on Wall Street of old Joe Kennedy, " make that money fast before they pass a law against it." It is really only illegal if there is a serious cartel or whale ring running it, and you, the Reuben, think they are all going one way when they are not.
Here's a whale sell wall. Sell your altcoin at my price because it will not be going any ding dang higher!!! This only works for a whale in a small market where that whale can really dictate.
The whale sell wall is fun because this means a whale is keeping the price low for some reason. Which leads to my favorite theory about the recent Bitcoin price suppression - the whales have decided we are still in the crypto winter. They are keeping the Bitcoin price low so that they can slowly accumulate more and more before beginning the giant pump...
Crypto fans we love ya...