Hypothetical

Since everyone knows about bitcoin halving, and what it implies for the overall crypto market, is it possible for whales to manipulate the market?

I can think of a few ways, but the most notable scenario would be that a person or group of people could offload a massive amount of BTC as volume increases to either keep the price artificially low, or even drop the price. (Assuming the halving would relate to the start of a bull run)

If the halving occurs and the price moves sideways, or down, it's not unreasonable to think the FOMO buyers and short term investors would start to sell fearing an ongoing bear market. In turn lowering the price further, allowing said conspirator(s) to sell at a profit, then buy back below their previous cost basis and ride the wave up as people see the volume and price ultimately increase.

Since I'm an idiot, is this even possible? Or are there too many other factors.