The tinfoil-hat-wearing part of my brain is saying there's a button these companies push to ensure that "ordinary people" get locked out of trade opportunities

The tinfoil-hat-wearing part of my brain is saying there's a button these companies push to ensure that "ordinary people" get locked out of trade opportunities arising from such volatility. It's certainly more likely it's unusual load knocking the services down. ("Never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence.")