Great article! I think it was more than the trading desks which wanted a position in crypto but only at lower levels. I think the true manipulation came (is coming) from Bitcoin Whales using the CME Futures market to make a killing. Its very similar to what the silver and gold whales did before the days of "paper gold/silver" via ETFs. The alltime BTC high occurred almost simultaneously to the CME/CBoE launch. They take an opposite position then move the market and then covering for a huge profit.

BTW I have a closet full of tinfoil hats ;) I followed back!