QTUM Lending Pool Hits Near-Record Lows as Borrow Cost Doubles

The borrow market for QTUM has deteriorated sharply since this morning's earlier report. Availability has dropped to 13.1% — the tightest reading in nearly a year — as the cost to borrow doubled in a single week.

The Borrow Story Has Accelerated

When ORTEX last covered this ETF, availability stood at 23.5%. It has since fallen to 13.1%. That means roughly one share remains available to borrow for every seven already lent out. The 52-week low is 12.8% — QTUM is almost there.

Cost to borrow has moved in lockstep. CTB stood at 1.10% in the previous report. It now sits at 2.08% — a doubling in less than a week and more than double its one-month-ago level of ~1.03%.

This is a meaningful shift in borrowing conditions within a matter of hours.

Short Interest Pulled Back — But the Pool Is Still Strained

Short interest dipped 8.4% on June 23, retreating from a peak of ~526,000 shares short. The current estimate is ~482,000 shares. That is still 57% above levels seen just one week ago.

SI sits at 1.76% of free float. By itself, that level is not extreme for a thematic ETF. But the lending dynamics tell a different story. The speed of the drawdown in available shares — availability fell 64% in a single week — reflects intense repositioning pressure rather than a gradual drift.

Options Traders Remain Cautious

The put-call ratio is 0.73, sitting roughly 1.9 standard deviations above the 20-day mean. Elevated put demand has persisted across the past two sessions. The PCR 52-week range runs from 0.30 to 1.38 — current levels are not extreme, but the recent move is notable given how stable the ratio had been through most of May and early June.

What to Watch

Availability at 13.1% is within a fraction of the 52-week low of 12.8%. If borrowing demand picks back up — or if shares are not returned quickly after yesterday's partial unwind — QTUM could breach that low. A further CTB spike would follow.

---

• SI % of FF: 1.76% (down 8.4% on the day; up 57% on the week)
• Availability: 13.1% (52-week low: 12.8%)
• Cost to borrow: 2.08% (+101% week-on-week)
• Put-call ratio: 0.73 (+1.87 z-score vs. 20-day mean of 0.64)
• Price: $163.34 (–3.1% on the day; +0.7% on the week)