Come on manipulation has been the cornerstone of crypto markets from day one. One's view of blatancy is another's surprise (see wall observer thread for people that continue to be surprised by each and every movement)
Very true, bitcoin has always been manipulated. But with the approval of bitcoin futures came a lot of liquidity which bitcoin never had before. This brought a lot more Wall Street money (billions) which gave way to much more manipulation.
Hopefully the'll start manipulating in the other direction soon =D