Float Manipulation
A small tradable share of supply sets the reference price for a much larger total, and whoever controls the remainder can shape that price.
How it happens
Many tokens launch with only a modest fraction of supply actually transferable, the rest held by a team, a foundation, investors under vesting, or a market maker operating under a loan agreement with an option to buy. The price discovered on that small float is then multiplied by a much larger supply figure to produce headline valuations, and it is also the price feeding indexes and oracles. Concentrated ownership makes that price relatively cheap to influence, whether by withholding supply, by concentrated buying in a thin book, or by coordinated promotion timed to a listing. Since the float grows on a schedule while the influence shrinks, the reference price established early is not necessarily reachable once the remainder becomes tradable.
What you can actually observe
Examine holder concentration, excluding known exchange and contract addresses, and count how much supply sits in vesting contracts, treasury addresses, and market-maker wallets. Compare fully diluted valuation against market capitalization, and read the terms of any disclosed market-making arrangement, particularly loans of tokens with call options. Sudden transfers into exchange deposit addresses from allocation wallets are directly observable and are the most concrete signal available.
What makes it more or less material
Consider the tradable float as a share of total supply, holder concentration excluding infrastructure addresses, the gap between market capitalization and fully diluted valuation, and whether promotional activity coincides with listings.
Related factors
Assets this applies to
The largest assets we classify in the categories this factor applies to. Presence here means the factor is relevant to that kind of asset, not that it has occurred.