All it would take is only a few whales to maliciously spread FUD news, and sell off some change to shake-down the over-investors, paper hands etc and gobble up all the cheap supply as a result.

I love r/CryptoCurrency, it is a great place to read up on all the dozens of new and interesting projects, easily read and digest the latest news from the market and in general it's a pretty fun place to burn some time, on the loo, on the bus, waiting for an appointment, you get the picture. My biggest issue with this sub, and other Crypto fixated spaces is how easy it is for FUD to take a grip and spread like wild fire.
Firstly It's important to consider the reasons for an individual to engage in such a Behavior. In particular why an individual would share some news, opinion or other information that is just speculated negativity and of little actual value. I intend not to get all psycho-analyst or anything, but considering the tone and nature of this post/rant of mine I'm definitely going to come off as such. I apologize if by any small a chance my opinions/beliefs on the matter offend anyone. But I believe there are a few fundamental reasons for a person, or persons to engage in this behavior.

The least malicious reason for this is to simple garner attention from others. Posting FUD almost always attracts the attention of dozens of people ready to rebuke or renounce any sort of low-effort scaremongering. The individual posting the FUD simply understands that the content they are sharing will invoke emotions in people and therefore inspire them to comment on the matter. An easy way indeed to get attention if that's all you're after.

A more malicious reason for it would be to purposefully cause fear to individuals that would be already doubting their investment. Unfortunately some people thrive on the torment of others.

My biggest fear though, and the most malicious of all reasons is to attempt to manipulate the market for your own advantage. FUD creates the ideal scenario to buy up cheap assets, the harder you can push it, the more people you can scare into selling-off. It's not unrealistic to assume that an individual, or group could orchestrate such a thing. It's been proven time and time again that an action as simple as a whale selling off some of their assets can become a catalyst to cause doubts to grow strong in peoples mind. In an ideal world people wouldn't just blindly follow the actions of somebody just because they are much wealthier than them, but unfortunately that is not our world. Plenty of people base their trades on the movements of whales, and what better way to screw over those people than to encourage them to sell off then buy back in at a much lower price.