Crypto Shorts Down $1.9 Billion as Bitcoin Rallies

Author:

Ihor Dusaniwsky

Managing Director of Predictive Analytics, S3 Partners

March 25, 2024

Bitcoin is up over 7% in late-day trading and up almost 12% since its recent low three days ago and as a result crypto related stock short sellers have incurred -$1.9 billion to their year-to-date mark-to-market losses today.

Total short interest in crypto related stocks is $10.7 billion with MicroStrategy Inc (MSTR) and Coinbase Globa Inc (COIN) making up 84% of the short interest in the sector. Short interest % Float in this sector is over three times larger than the U.S. average of 5.13%

Crypto Stock Short Interest

Ticker

Total SI % Float

Short Interest

MicroStrategy Inc

MSTR

24.22%

$5,529,120,781

Coinbase Global Inc

COIN

7.99%

$3,460,175,353

Marathon Digital Holdings Inc

MARA

13.25%

$764,837,915

Riot Platforms Inc

RIOT

13.62%

$353,948,816

Cleanspark Inc

CLSK

13.69%

$509,233,764

Bitfarms Ltd/Canada

BITF

8.76%

$58,197,825

Hive Digital Technologies Ltd

HIVE

6.81%

$20,768,581

Core Scientific Inc

CORZ

3.12%

$16,731,968

Stronghold Digital Mining Inc

SDIG

3.01%

$1,252,531

Total Sector

17.19%

$10,714,267,533

Crypto stocks are down $1.9 billion, -17.4%, in mark-to-market losses today with MSTR leading the pack with -$1.4 billion in mark-to-market losses. Crypto related shorts are down -$4.0 billion, -39.2%, for the month of March and down -$5.7 billion, -79.1%, year-to-date.

Mark-To-Market P\L (in $mm's)

Ticker

Day MTM P\L

P\L %

MTD MTM P\L

P\L %

YTD MTM P\L

P\L %

MicroStrategy Inc

MSTR

($1,369)

-24.75%

($3,010)

-59.18%

($4,177)

-150.57%

Coinbase Global Inc

COIN

($361)

-10.45%

($1,074)

-31.89%

($1,415)

-52.65%

Marathon Digital Holdings

MARA

($4)

-0.57%

$170

20.24%

$75

8.00%

Riot Platforms Inc

RIOT

($32)

-8.95%

$51

13.79%

$80

19.07%

Cleanspark Inc

CLSK

($95)

-18.75%

($163)

-35.02%

($324)

-101.34%

Bitfarms Ltd/Canada

BITF

$1

0.87%

$14

22.66%

$11

15.70%

Hive Digital Technologies

HIVE

($1)

-4.26%

$4

18.03%

$9

30.08%

Core Scientific Inc

CORZ

($0)

-1.77%

$1

8.23%

$0

3.38%

Stronghold Digital Mining

SDIG

($0)

-2.02%

$0

13.07%

$1

65.40%

Total Sector

($1,862)

-17.38%

($4,006)

-39.15%

($5,739)

-79.09%

These crypto related stocks are extremely crowded and very squeezable relative to the U.S. market, with an average Crowded score of 57.34 versus the street average of 32.41 and an average Squeeze score of 78.69 versus the street average of 34.41. MSTR, COIN and CLSK and the most squeezable names in the sector.

Crowded & Squeeze Scores

Ticker

Crowded Score

Squeeze Score

MicroStrategy Inc

MSTR

75.00

95.00

Coinbase Global Inc

COIN

37.50

67.50

Marathon Digital Holdings Inc

MARA

42.50

52.50

Riot Platforms Inc

RIOT

40.00

20.00

Cleanspark Inc

CLSK

40.00

70.00

Bitfarms Ltd/Canada

BITF

30.00

10.00

Hive Digital Technologies Ltd

HIVE

32.50

12.50

Core Scientific Inc

CORZ

25.00

35.00

Stronghold Digital Mining Inc

SDIG

20.00

-

Total Sector

57.34

78.69

U.S. Average

32.41

34.41

We have seen net short covering in Crypto stocks, mainly due to COIN short covering more than offsetting the increased short selling we saw in MSTR for the year. Total short interest in the sector increased by $3.67 billion to $10.71 billion in 2024. This increase was made up of a $3.98 billion in the mark-to-market increase in the share price of the stocks shorted partially offset with $302 million of increased short covering.

Crypto Stock Short Interest

Ticker

Short Interest

YTD Change

YTD Shares Shorted

YTD Ch MTM

MicroStrategy Inc

MSTR

$5,529

$3,710

$1,142

$2,568

Coinbase Global Inc

COIN

$3,460

$139

($1,419)

$1,558

Marathon Digital Holdings Inc

MARA

$765

($312)

($192)

($120)

Riot Platforms Inc

RIOT

$354

($177)

($38)

($140)

Cleanspark Inc

CLSK

$509

$329

$190

$139

Bitfarms Ltd/Canada

BITF

$58

($9)

$5

($14)

Hive Digital Technologies Ltd

HIVE

$21

($20)

($7)

($13)

Core Scientific Inc

CORZ

$17

$17

$17

$0

Stronghold Digital Mining Inc

SDIG

$1

($2)

($0)

($1)

Total Sector

$10,714

$3,674

($302)

$3,976

Over the last thirty days, as Bitcoin rallied significantly, but we have seen increased short selling into this rally. Total short interest in the sector increased by $4.50 billion to $10.71 billion. This increase was made up of a $3.58 billion mark-to-market increase in the share price of the stocks shorted with an additional $925 million of new short selling, led by $974 million of increased short selling in MSTR.

Crypto Stock Short Interest

Ticker

Short Interest

30D Change

30D Shares Shorted

30D Ch MTM

MicroStrategy Inc

MSTR

$5,529

$3,473

$974

$2,499

Coinbase Global Inc

COIN

$3,460

$1,156

($86)

$1,243

Marathon Digital Holdings Inc

MARA

$765

($130)

($13)

($116)

Riot Platforms Inc

RIOT

$354

($81)

$20

($101)

Cleanspark Inc

CLSK

$509

$102

$25

$77

Bitfarms Ltd/Canada

BITF

$58

($17)

$1

($18)

Hive Digital Technologies Ltd

HIVE

$21

($8)

($2)

($6)

Core Scientific Inc

CORZ

$17

$6

$6

$1

Stronghold Digital Mining Inc

SDIG

$1

$0

$0

($0)

Total Sector

$10,714

$4,503

$925

$3,579

Crypto stock short sellers have been selling into a rallying market – either looking for a pullback in the Bitcoin rally or using the short positions as a hedge versus actual Bitcoin holdings. For the trades that are risk positions, there is a strong squeeze possibility in the more unprofitable shorts in the sector like MSTR, COIN and CLSK. If the short exposure is a Bitcoin hedge, then short interest should remain relatively flat, regardless of the Bitcoin rally.

Our Blacklight SaaS platform and Black App provides an up-to-date view of short selling and short covering on an equity, sector, index, or country-wide basis allowing investors\traders to better manage their existing long and short positions. The Black MaP and Black App products provide a total view of long and short positioning in the market with a breakdown between Active\Passive long investors, 24 Fund type entities, over 50k securities globally across 108 countries and data from 58 regulatory exchanges.

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