Bitcoin up 7% to $36.8K; trying to understand crypto price swings

The crypto roller-coaster is still in full swing as extreme volatility continues to whipsaw investors. Over the course of Monday, May 17, through Friday, May 21, Bitcoin (BTC-USD) fell 20% to $32.8K, only to accelerate rapid price moves. On Saturday, it jumped touched as high as $38.8K then fell as low as $31.1K on Sunday, and rose nearly 7% overnight to climb back to $36.8K. In fact, one metric gauging implied volatility on Bitcoin, similar to the VIX index of the U.S. stock market, topped 130, exceeding the VIX's all-time high.More crypto volatility: Ethereum (ETH-USD) +8.4% to $2,301. Ripple (XRP-USD) +1.8% to $0.86; Cardano (ADA-USD) +7.5% to $1.47; Stellar (XLM-USD) +18.9% to $0.43; Dogecoin (DOGE-USD) +3.4% to $0.33; Bitcoin Cash (BCH-USD) +5.9% to $621; Uniswap (LTH-USD) +11.2% to $158.What the crypto crowd is saying on Twitter: Mike Novogratz: "Weekend illiquidity exacerbated this liquidation... We will see... With hindsight."Larry Cermak: "This took