I did a post once comparing cypto to chess. ETH was a rook, and small coins were pawns. A rook, no matter how strong, when alone and unsupported, is vulnerable.
This post exposes a vulnerability that we should've seen coming, because we play this game like a game of craps, or poker, trying to just keep a straight face, bluff, and earn a quick buck. We should be playing it like a game of chess, with calculated moves based on the real, long term strength that the better devs have built into the good coins.
I wholeheartedly agree. I think your analogy fits well. It could be that a few people swinging around a few tens of millions of ETH are actually adding billions to crypto market caps.
I'm still holding ETH, but it seems incredibly fragile at the moment.