BMNR is grinding through a second week of short covering, but the position remains large enough that the tension between retreating bears and a stock up 21% in a month has not fully resolved.
The short covering story has continued since last week's note, though the pace has slowed. Short interest has fallen further to 14.7% of the free float — down from 15.2% a week ago and from a July peak near 19%. That is a meaningful reduction, with roughly 16 million shares covered since early July. The direction of travel is clear: shorts are getting smaller. But at 14.7% of float, the remaining position is still heavy by any normal standard, keeping BMNR in contested rather than settled territory. The ORTEX short score has drifted down from 53.2 two weeks ago to 50.9 now, edging toward neutral, which lines up with the broader retreat in bearish conviction.
The borrow market tells a story of comfort for whoever remains short. Availability is running at 246% — more than two shares still available to borrow for every share already lent — and has actually loosened by about 10% on the week as shorts have returned shares. Cost to borrow, at 0.44%, is negligible and fell 17% on the week, a far cry from the 2.3% spike seen in early July. The 52-week trough in availability was 49%, so the current reading is well off that stress level. There is no mechanical squeeze pressure here: the borrow pool is deep, costs are low, and any remaining shorts are not being forced out by the lending market.
Options positioning is modestly more defensive than usual but nowhere near alarming. The put/call ratio is 0.37, slightly above its 20-day average of 0.36 — less than one standard deviation elevated — and well below the 52-week high of 0.72. Options traders are not loading up on downside protection. The dominant tone in the options market is call-skewed, consistent with a name where retail and momentum players remain active.
The institutional picture has some genuinely interesting detail. BlackRock added 16.2 million shares in the July reporting period, taking its stake to 4.5% of shares outstanding — a substantial and recent build for an index-agnostic active addition. Vanguard's passive arm entered with 23 million shares reported through June. State Street added 6.4 million shares through July. The combined footprint of major passive and active institutions has grown quickly, which adds a structural buyer base beneath a stock that still carries a large short position. Earnings history adds some colour: the two most recent quarterly prints both produced positive next-day moves of 7.7% and 8.1%, with the five-day window even more constructive. The next event is not until November 20, so there is no near-term catalyst on the calendar.
Among correlated peers, MSTR slipped 1.6% on the week while CRCL and ABTC each gained around 12-13%, suggesting the crypto-adjacent space has been divergent rather than directional. BMNR's own 5.5% weekly dip looks modest against that backdrop — the name has simply paused after a strong month rather than broken down with any weaker peers. What to watch next is whether the short cover trend continues into sub-12% of float territory, or stalls here as the remaining position entrenches at a level that still represents meaningful bearish disagreement with the institutional buying thesis.
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