The volatile market in the crypto world often makes people anxious, but have you ever thought that behind it is actually an art of chip exchange?

When I first entered the scene, a 10% drop in my account would make me curse for half a day. I always felt like someone was watching my small holdings from behind the scenes, deliberately opposing me. It wasn't until experiencing several cycles of bull and bear markets that I truly understood: the market manipulation by the whales is never aimed at individuals, but rather a necessary market cleanup—just like farmers till the soil before planting, or pulling the market before pushing it up.
The 2018 METIS market changed my perspective completely. During that period, it fell from 1.2U down to 0.9U in a steady decline, dragging on for two months, with the community full of complaints. A seasoned investor sold at 0.95U in a panic and proudly claimed to have avoided a disaster. Little did he know, the chips he threw out were exactly swallowed by the whales.
Then came the more intense move—suddenly dropping to 0.7U and quickly bouncing back, technical traders started shouting "double bottom formation." As a result, the whales countered with a sharp drop to 0.65U, causing chaos in the group. This is a combination of "grinding" and "trapping," with only one purpose: to make those with weak resolve voluntarily surrender their chips.
**The core logic of market manipulation is actually very simple**
Essentially, market manipulation is about exchanging chips, not grabbing chips. The whales create panic to make retail investors sell cheap chips at the bottom, which then flow into the hands of more patient holders. When most retail investors choose to hold on stubbornly, the whales escalate their tactics—either extending the manipulation period from days to weeks or even months; or intensifying the manipulation from mild fluctuations to fierce sell-offs.
Once you understand this, you'll realize that those declines that once scared you are actually the market helping you clear out less committed participants.