Today was an interesting day. It was the day my Steemit account was approved and it was also the day Bitcoin drove all the way down to $9,000's USD territory. It is also the day the first Bitcoin futures contracts expired.

All that brings me to my very first question: Is Bitcoin's price controlled with an iron-fist grip by a relatively few? I believe it is. I do not have anything other than anecdotical obvervations:

1. In the early Fall, a buzz starts generating that Bitcoin will be listed on futures exchanges. People are talking constantly about how the whales will completely hedge their investments by buying short contracts and then dump enough of their Bitcoins on the market to drive prices down to the target contract price.
2. Bitcoin prices climb and climb up to mid-December in what appears to be aggressive bots trading to drive up the prices.
3. The market reverses in December but settles in a comfortable striking distance of $10,000 range.
4. Almost like clockwork, it appears a key is turned a few days ago and the market begins driving Bitcoin price down. Fast, but not too fast. Trading volume levels are all time highs.
5. Bitcoin prices fall down to a perfect $11k ~ $10k range and simply hovers there, thereby satisfying the 24 hour terms of the contract for the price.
6. The very first future contracts expire and immediately, prices across the board start climbing at astronomical rates.

Yeah, I watched all this entirely with the context of the question I first asked myself in October 2017: "Do the whales really have enough control of Bitcoin's prices that they can do pretty much anything they want?"

My answer: A nearly indisputable and resounding "YES!" Welcome to the club, CBOE and CME. Between institutional money getting involved and the Bitcoin whales, I believe we have an incredibly powerful pair of hands firmly on the grips of Bitcoin's future price action and I call it the Bitcoin Master Puppeteer.

The only question is: How do those of us just getting started in this space, like me, stand any chance of, not only surviving, but thriving and growing our investment in crypto-currencies. I don't have the answers, but I do hope to explore the many ways we can all learn, grow, and prosper in this brave new world that has been thrust upon us by the unprecedented blockchain technology. Make no mistake about it, our world will be dramatically different in a few year's time and I am excited to be on this journey, even in the face of witnessing a masterpiece of price orchestration unfold before my very eyes.