ABTC Shorts Exit en Masse as Options Turn Bullish

ABTC built a 10.5-million-share short position over several weeks. In a single session, 93% of it vanished.

Why this matters: Three signals shifted simultaneously on July 6 — a near-total short cover, a put/call ratio that collapsed to zero, and a stock that is still down 21% on the week. That combination tells a story about who was positioned and what they just did.

The Cover

Short interest dropped from 10.5 million shares to 702,000 — a 93% collapse in one day. SI now sits at just 0.36% of the free float, down from a peak above 5% that had been building since late June.

The previous ORTEX note (July 1) flagged the buildup as a "deliberate position build." That position is now essentially gone. The June 24-25 entry was aggressive. The July 6 exit was more so.

Borrow availability has moved with it. After sitting in a tight 50-80% range through much of late June and early July, availability opened up to 84.5% on July 6 — still a relatively comfortable level, reflecting the dramatic reduction in shares on loan. The 52-week low availability was 0.08%, so today's reading is structurally loose by comparison.

Cost to borrow is a mild counter-signal. It ticked up 57% week-on-week to 0.89%. That's still a low absolute rate. It doesn't suggest any fresh squeeze mechanics — it reads more like a normalisation in lending fees after heavy share return volume.