The record volume, ~375k BTC is almost double the old record (which was closer to ~200k BTC). That seems to me to be a game-changer. If this volume was mostly someone trading with him/herself (phantom volume of a manipulator), or otherwise normal volume of market-makers, then why was it never this high before?
Answer: Increase in usage of a certain service.
Bitcoinica didn't just open yesterday. Yesterday's volume was a major outlier, which can't be hand-waved away.
Yeah, but there is not enough panic yet. That wall is simply there to fuck with us. It is supporting the price until enough bids have been placed, after which it will be abruptly pulled and further panic will ensue. I might be wrong, but I don't think any manipulator worth his salt would actually give his hand away by leaving that wall there for so long. Call me crazy.
He also put up a $250k ask for all of a few seconds. Is there any explanation for that? Was he bragging?
You would think he would spread out the wall a bit to make it not so obvious. But perhaps he just wants to see how stupid people are.
Volume of almost twice the previous record qualifies as "enough panic", IMO. Or, he's gonna drop the wall and everyone will panic sell at $1.xx? That does sound crazy. How many people would still be holding, with a stop-loss below $2, especially given yesterday's record sell-off? Not many, I wouldn't think.
The simpler explanation is that there's a big buyer who bought a bunch of bitcoin, and who is ready to buy at least 50k more. He's broadcasting a direct signal to the market. Whoever was selling either ran out of BTC, or got the message.
Market, meet bottom. (unless it isn't. i suppose it could be a ploy to mindfuck and manipulate the market sheeple into buying now and panic selling later at $1.xx, if they're dumb enough).
