Why the bitcoin price moves so much

Supply is fixed and demand is not. That single asymmetry explains most of the volatility — and understanding it is what stops a headline from turning into a panic sale.

What actually moves the price

A fixed supply meeting variable demand. New bitcoin enters at a rate nobody can change, so every shift in demand shows up entirely in the price rather than partly in the quantity produced.
Leverage. Borrowed positions are liquidated automatically when the price moves against them, and each forced sale pushes the price further in the same direction. Most violent single-day moves are liquidation cascades, not news.
Concentrated holdings. A large share sits in few hands, so one decision can move the market in a way it could not in a market with millions of comparable holders.
Interest rates and liquidity. Bitcoin competes with every other asset for the same money. When borrowing gets expensive everywhere, speculative assets fall together — the correlation is with liquidity, not with any bitcoin-specific event.

What does not move it, despite the headlines

A single exchange listing or delisting. It moves that venue's price briefly; the global price barely notices.
A prominent person's opinion. The effect is measured in hours and reverses. Treat a post that moves your conviction as information about you, not about bitcoin.
'Whales manipulating the market' as a general explanation. Large holders do move the price, but the phrase is mostly used to explain moves nobody understands, which explains nothing.

Questions people ask

Will the volatility go away as adoption grows?

It has fallen over the long run as the market has grown, and that trend may continue. But the fixed supply means demand shifts will always land on price, so it will not disappear.

Is a 30% fall unusual?

No. Falls of that size have happened repeatedly in every multi-year period of bitcoin's existence, including periods that ended much higher. Unusual would be a year without one.

Should I sell when it falls sharply?

That is a decision about your own situation, not about the price, and we are not licensed to advise you. What is worth knowing is that most people who sell in a fall do it after the fall, and buy back higher.

Why did it move when nothing happened?

Often nothing did. Liquidations cascade without news, and a price that moves without an explanation is the normal state of a market that trades continuously with no closing bell.