Change the mindset:

Level 1: The market is dominated.

Level 2: The market is 'being' dominated.

Level 3: The market ..… 'is being' dominated.

According to you, fill in the blank with what …..

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'sometimes'.

Not every time is the market dominated. Prices will fundamentally follow supply and demand and the long-term fundamentals. But at each establishment phase, there will be attempts to dominate to exploit profits.

That is why there are times when prices run very chaotically but there are also times they run very technically or naturally break technical patterns.

Level 4: The market is sometimes dominated by smart money.

Level 5: The market is sometimes manipulated by … … …

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'many smart money'

A market, a coin does not only have one controlling group. There can be many groups operating simultaneously or not simultaneously.

You will see this clearly in non-product projects like memecoins. One group of CTOs leaving will be replaced by another group. Therefore, there are charts that people read the behavior showing distribution by one group but actually being accumulated by another group. It is not necessary to buy low and sell high; profits can be achieved by buying high and selling even higher.

For projects with products (i.e., not CTO-able), the controlling groups are usually Cx or organizations with influence. The goal is low liquidity projects, accumulate > release news > pump > exit.

As for large-cap projects or the entire market, the domination will depend on the size of the group. Small power dominates small time frames, large power dominates large time frames.

Replace domination = manipulation for easier reading.

Level 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.