“So I don’t understand what is driving it downward. Again, I don’t see how it’s been done.”
it’s real simple: the same way any highly-leveraged bubbles burst, particularly when the bubble-stuff has no inherent use-value: the punters panic and all try to sell at the same time as margin loans collateralized by the falling value of the bubble-stuff become due and owners must borrow MORE money or sell ... non-margined punters panic too as they see life-savings that they cannot afford to lose and also must sell ... the result is lots of sellers all trying to squeeze through the same narrow door and the same time when there’s not lots of buyers ... this same speculative bubble collapse has happened over and over again thgroughout history, including tulips, dot.com and housing ... there’s no great conspiracy involved, just ordinary human ignorance, greed and fear unleashed to operate in massive quantities ...
Maybe you are right about people being “leveraged”. If people are borrowing to buy BTC then just as happened with homes that were upside down, people just run for the exits. It didn’t occur to my simple mind that people would be borrowing to buy their BTC. Now, tulips, that I get.
Thanks.