I'm a firm believer that there is and always has been a US Gov PPT (plunge protection team).  I think it's likely that one is funded under the black budget of the CIA and the FED (which isn't and can't be audited) probably also has a team working in that capacity. And I think both are relatively active on regular basis.  For example, there is a lot of on chain evidence of Sovereign bitcoin accumulation (cause why wouldn't they?).  As far as the equity market goes, the Fed flat out admitted they were buying some ETF's in the last crisis and we know they do plenty without telling us upfront. The CIA having an active PPT just makes sense. Again, why wouldn't they?  Definitely a conspiracy theory, but not at all far fetched. They've mostly admitted to it (except the CIA part).