Bitcoin plunged to nearly $62,000 on November 15, its lowest level since July. The drop wiped out months of gains and triggered more than $2 billion in liquidations.
Now, several analysts claim that large players orchestrated the crash. However, others see a far simpler explanation.
Analysts Say Bitcoin’s Crash Was Pure Manipulation
Market manipulation refers to deliberate trading that distorts prices for profit. In crypto, critics often accuse large holders of pushing prices toward liquidation zones.
According to BeInCrypto data, Bitcoin now trades near $64,300, down 4.6% in 24 hours and about 15% over the past week. It also sits roughly 49% below its all-time high of $126,080.
Meanwhile, CoinGlass data shows nearly $2 billion in crypto liquidations.
Long positions accounted for roughly 87% of that total, and more than 312,000 traders got wiped out.
For Ash Crypto, the timing looked suspicious. Bitcoin had reclaimed its 50-week moving average and flipped its weekly Supertrend.
“How can this not be pure market manipulation?” the analyst wrote.
In that view, large players who missed a fourth-quarter dip forced a reset at retail’s expense.
Similarly, Whale Scan also noted the absence of normal warning signals before the cascade.
“This dump was completely orchestrated… This was pure market manipulation,” Whale Scan posted.
Was It Manipulation or Just Too Much Leverage?
Some traders point to Binance. Ted Pillows shared analysis claiming that futures selling on the exchange repeatedly hit liquidation clusters.
According to that theory, Binance covered $6.3 billion in lost user assets by forcing traders out.
However, no public evidence confirms these claims so far. Meanwhile, ThinkingUSD reported price-insensitive, institutional-scale selling on Coinbase during thin weekend liquidity. One trader called it the most aggressive flow of its kind ever observed.
Still, many analysts reject the manipulation narrative. Instead, they blame excessive leverage, which accelerated the decline once key supports broke.
The October 2025 crash followed a similar pattern.
Others cite persistent outflows from spot Bitcoin ETFs, which have lost hundreds of millions across consecutive sessions.
In addition, hotter-than-expected US CPI data lifted Treasury yields and raised the odds of a Federal Reserve rate hike.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Cowen compared the current price action with the 2018 and 2022 cycles.
Technical observers also flagged possible Wyckoff distribution patterns and rising supply in loss.
Bitcoin return after the rate hike in September 2026 compared to the average return of Bitcoin after rate hikes in September 2018 and September 2022. This time look pretty similar to historical analogs.”
Yet the speed of the weekend drop has renewed calls for more transparency around large orders and exchange practices.
For now, Bitcoin holds above the $62,000 zone, while the debate keeps shaping market sentiment.
