Crypto projects usually launch with an ICO: the first coins are sold, often below the price at which they will first list. Most of the time, a fixed number of coins can be issued (the supply), and the way they will be distributed is set out in the white paper, with a share reserved for the founders, the miners, and so on.

Look, I’m not giving you a crypto lesson, I’m nowhere near the expert that French crypto influencer Caroline Jurado is, but this is just for context.

After that, these coins can be bought and sold on exchanges such as Binance, which run a secondary market and therefore give a real-time price. That price obviously matters a great deal, just as it does for a company, since it reflects both investors’ interest in the project and its presumed health… and also the founders’ fortune (when they haven’t dumped their bags like there’s no tomorrow, but that’s another story).

So naturally, the big holders, founders included, have every interest in keeping the price stable. Even if it means using methods that aren’t exactly squeaky clean.