Market Manipulation & Trading Strategies - Prior to 2021, retail investors primarily engaged in long positions, freely utilizing high leverage in altcoins [1] - By 2022, retail investors began shorting, leading market makers to manipulate altcoin prices by pumping them to induce short positions and then continuously raising spot prices [1] - As of 2025, with retail investors aware of the risks of shorting altcoins, market makers have shifted to exploiting arbitrage opportunities [1] Risk Management & Liquidation - Large-scale liquidations, such as the "pumpbtc" event, exemplify the risks of arbitrage, where a significant price surge led to substantial losses for leveraged traders [1] - Market makers are allegedly targeting large accounts with substantial margin to trigger liquidations by manipulating prices [3] - Even with high leverage (e g, 100x), smaller accounts can manage risk by quickly cutting losses, but larger accounts face challenges in reducing positions due to the potential for accelerated price movements and targeted liquidations [3] Examples of Exploitation - Examples of arbitrage exploitation include Hype on XPL and Seraph on Bybit [2]