Why this matters — Three distinct ORTEX data signals have converged on RUM simultaneously: utilization at 100%, cost to borrow surging 118% in one week, and short interest rising sharply. All available shares to borrow are fully lent out, making new short positions extremely difficult and expensive to establish.
Utilization at 52-week high. Utilization hit 100% on April 24 — matching its 52-week ceiling. It has held at or near 100% for most of the past 30 days. Every borrowable share is now lent out.
Cost to borrow explodes. The CTB rate stood at 33.72% APR as of April 24. That is up 118% over one week and up 223% over one month, from a base of roughly 10–11% in late March. The peak hit 37.29% on April 23. Borrowing costs have more than tripled in four weeks.
Short interest climbs. SI % of Free Float reached 13.28% on April 24. Short shares rose 10.6% in a single day and 9.5% over the week. Despite the surging borrowing costs, short sellers added positions. Total shares short stand at approximately 28.6 million.
The ORTEX short score sits at 89.2 out of 100 — and the utilization and days-to-cover ranks are both in the 1st percentile, meaning extreme readings relative to the broader market. The put/call ratio (PCR) of 0.19 is near its 52-week low of 0.18, with a z-score of -1.68. Options flow is heavily skewed toward calls, not puts — an unusual divergence from the short-selling pressure. BlackRock added 260,270 shares in its most recent filing. Tether Holdings — the largest institutional shareholder with ~31% of shares — bought approximately 776,000 shares in early February. Insider activity on April 2 showed multiple executives selling at $4.98, though at low significance scores, and the stock now trades at $6.52. Net insider activity over 90 days is positive: net 867,168 shares bought, worth ~$4.67 million, driven primarily by Tether's February purchases.
Utilization has repeatedly touched 100% over the past 30 days. However, the CTB acceleration seen this week — from ~15% to above 33% in days — marks a notable escalation versus the steady 10–11% range seen through most of March. The current CTB level is a multi-month high for this name.
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