Cryptocurrency market fluctuations—who is really pulling the strings behind the scenes?

Many people give the same answer: fundamentals and supply-demand relationships. But anyone who has been in the crypto market for a few years knows that this sounds pretty correct, yet it’s actually a bit far off. Fundamentals determine the long-term trend, no doubt. But at this very moment, fundamentals simply don’t matter much.

The rise and fall of the crypto market is essentially a game of capital. Bulls want to make money, bears want to make money—one wants to go up, the other wants to go down—it's a tug of war. The battle between long and short positions among investors is the real reason behind every fluctuation in price every second. It sounds simple, but reality is much more complex.

The market never follows textbooks. During periods of change, it is always influenced by various forces—policy shifts, major news bombshells, technical breakthroughs... Without understanding these forces thoroughly, it’s hard to truly grasp how the market will move.

To go a bit deeper, the rise and fall of individual coins are ultimately driven by capital. Sometimes big players act alone; other times, they stir up the market, rallying retail investors to push prices together. If there are no big players involved and retail investors are just playing on their own? Then they are basically at the mercy of the overall market, only able to react to major positive news to make a move, mostly just riding the waves with little say in the matter.