I cant say it is market manipulation but I believe it is.

A $300B market is easy for them to move. Rumors are they control the silver market which is much bigger than crypto.

This all leads to a situation where they are playing their games. The way to overcome this is for development to continue to the point where the ecosystems simply become too large for them to hold back. With more activity showing up on the blockchain, over time, the less they can do.