Because it's a smaller scale market compared to traditional markets and it involves technology that takes time to understand which most people won't do.

> fluctuations in cryptocoins seem to actually be a leading indicator of market instability.

Not terribly surprising when the majority are gambling with it as opposed to looking at it (Bitcoin) for what it is: an escape hatch from tyrannical money. If gamblers need to cover losses in traditional markets, they're more likely to pull that money from the thing they understand the least (because they value it less). Factor in that a lot of people are buying foolishly on leverage they can't cover and kaboom.

There is going to be a big wave of margin calls over the next 24hrs...