Ok, this is only my own observation, but I think it might be very accurate if you are looking at the more recent Bitcoin price trends. We all know that Bitcoin whales are still manipulating the Bitcoin price. <Yes, it might not be a huge influence, but it is still happening>
I think a lot of these Bitcoin whales might be losing momentum now, because we only see the price going slightly above $4000 and then they take profits and the price goes down below $4000 again. <They are playing around within a $400 to $500 price range for their profits now>
Why do you assume whales are dictating the price? Markets range like this all the time. Hell,
Bitcoin ranges like this all the time. It was doing the same thing in September-November last year before crashing.
Most of the market (including whales) is waiting to pile into the market once the range breaks.
We also know that Bitcoin whales will decline over time as more coins are distributed from them and hoarded by more users. This process are slowly gaining momentum.
I'm sure this is happening gradually over time. I used to see whales dumping 1K-2K BTC at a time, several times daily, on Gox back in 2013. You never see that kind of volume anymore.