https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wild-theory-price-bitcoin-being-110000608.html?"Back in 2017, John Griffin, a professor of finance at the University of Texas McCombs School of Business, noticed something strange. Griffin follows a totally different beat from typical business school finance profs who explore, say, how business cycles influence commodity prices or Fed policy sways the term structure of interest rates. The 6-foot-2 former high school football star views himself as a crusader for good, a moral sleuth who, as he tells Fortune, “looks to expose financial evil, to shed light on the world and expose dark things in the markets.” After the Great Financial Crisis, Griffin became a devout Christian. He has since dedicated his distinguished career to righteous forensic digging that’s unearthed abuses ranging from insider trading to mortgage fraud to the doctoring of bond ratings during the financial crisis."
I have a wild theory: all markets are manipulated.
Bitcoin prices are blown up by stablecoins like tether and USDC, a few whale holders controlling massive amounts of BTC. However, "traditional" markets face similar problems.
This does not mean the current Bitcoin price is completely out of proportion - it correlates with energy/hardware-costs for mining and it's increasing rarity as well as mass-adaoption/recognition as a store of value with massive benefits in comparison with other assets such as gold.
What I am saying is, while there are for certain lots of shady things going on with some effect here and there on Bitcoin's price, the overall price development for Bitcoin is still suprisingly organic imho.