I see a lot of abnormal behavior going on in the COINBASE:BTCUSD market. I have been watching volume across (almost) all exchanges and keeping tabs on the blockchain itself, and IMO there's definitely a powerful "hidden hand" that is manipulating things behind the scenes. I think the institutional money has arrived and is looking to play.
My advice is to be extremely cautious about using technical analysis for the next few days, because these aren't your ordinary whales. Traditional FOREX markets have a daily volume over 4 trillion dollars. These guys have money and prowess to move markets in very deceptive ways, baiting you into taking predictable positions and then squeezing you out. Expect a lot of deep-pocket fuckery.
Honestly I would throw all conventional crypto-market wisdom out the window for now. These guys are trying to shake coins out of as many weak hands as possible. The fewer players remaining in the game come next week, the easier the market will be to manipulate for futures. Unless you are extremely confident in what you're doing, it's better just to HODL and let things cool off for a while. I wouldn't even trust altcoin markets; look how quickly surging BTC price sucked all the air out of the crypto-room yesterday.
The fundamentals of Bitcoin are as strong as ever, so I think the best move to make right now is to simply not play the game. Just HODL until the madness is over, and if the market bottoms-out, buy more, don't try to sell the crash.
@tcasaer, The tether issue is a whole other animal entirely! There's a lot of rumors around it due to the hack and refusal for proof of reserves, but if tethers were not 1:1 backed then market speculation would drive down the tether price against USD and Bitfinex's cash reserves would get completely drained out by arbitrage.
I think the Bitfinex/Tether relationship is mostly legit, and they are mainly trying to keep their banking partners secret due to institutional pressure from bank cartels and governments. They pressured Wells Fargo to drop them as a customer and Bitfinex had to pull out of the U.S market. They have a rumored new banking partner in EU, whom already has come under scrutiny and does not want to confirm/deny any type of relationship.
I think the age of Bitcoin being a fad is over, and Bitfinex is smart enough to realize that the real big money is in playing by the rules and solidifying their position in this industry.
Don't forget about Tether and it's relationship with Bitfinex... they can "print' as much Tethers as they want without USD back guarantee. So it's an unlimited fund... That opens potential for a big Washmachine... If you read through articles, it's a very handy but doubtful token. Either way, very strange things happened in the last week.
qz.com/1149772/the-murky-relationship-between-bitfinex-and-tether-is-raising-suspicions/
Definitely something to keep in mind but only the future knows what will or will not happen...
cointelegraph.com/news/the-strange-story-of-tether-the-digital-money-that-claims-it-isnt-money