One notable "implication" of the manipulation hypothesis is the ease with
which a few Big Boys can pull off a nearly 50% price drop in a virtual few hours. We are far from having an asset that will "go mainstream soon", IMHO. (Yes, I own BTC with no plan to sell, so my remark is not intended FUD.)
What the Big Boys have been doing over at the CME is also relevant, and
I have captured some aspects of that here: https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@lestatisticien/bitcoin-will-not-show-another-explosive-price-jump-before-june-2018-cme-futures-forecast .
Cheers, and thanks for your well layed-out argument.