The XRP Bitwise XRP ETF enters mid-May with a striking contradiction: short sellers doubled their position overnight, yet the broader lending market has plenty of room left to run.
Short interest is the most volatile thing on this ETF right now. Estimated shares short nearly doubled in a single session — up 120% on May 12 to roughly 268,000 shares, representing 4.5% of the free float. That sounds alarming, but the monthly view tells a messier story: shorts are actually down 26% week-on-week, and the 30-day increase of 268% reflects a base that was extremely low in early April, when positions were barely above 27,000 shares. The daily moves here are noisy. This is a small, thinly-traded ETF, and even modest tactical positioning leaves large percentage footprints.
The lending market is loose, which matters more than the share count. Availability runs at 400% of estimated short interest — meaning four shares remain available to borrow for every one currently lent out. The 52-week high on utilization was 100%, but the current reading is just 37%. That is not a tight borrow. Cost to borrow has settled around 11.1%, broadly stable over the past week after a brief dip on May 7, and up roughly 37% from a month ago. The elevated rate — well above what you'd see on a liquid equity ETF — reflects the niche nature of the instrument and the modest pool of lendable shares, not a borrow squeeze. There is no squeeze pressure here.
Options positioning leans modestly more defensive than usual, but the signal is weak. The put/call ratio runs at 0.20, above its 20-day average of 0.16 but less than one standard deviation above the mean. The year's range stretches from 0.10 to 0.31, placing the current reading in the middle of its observed band. Calls still heavily outnumber puts — a reminder that most participants in this ETF are directionally long the crypto exposure, not hedging it. The slight uptick in the PCR over the past two weeks tracks broadly with the brief pullback in price.
The ORTEX short score climbed to 48.6 on May 12, up from 33.6 a week earlier. That is the highest reading in at least the past ten days and reflects the burst in estimated short interest alongside the uptick in cost to borrow. Still, a score below 50 sits in neutral territory — it is not yet signalling that shorts are in a structurally aggressive position. The combined score of 47.1 tells a similar story: mildly elevated, but not at a level that historically signals a crowded short setup.
Price held up reasonably well through the noise. The ETF closed at $16.12 on May 12, down 2.7% on the day but up 1.8% on the week and 5.7% over the past month. No earnings calendar applies to an ETF, so the key watchpoint is the underlying asset: XRP's price trajectory and any regulatory or exchange-listing developments that could shift the crypto sentiment driving flows into and out of the fund. Whether the short interest spike proves tactical or marks the start of a more sustained bearish rebuild is the variable worth tracking in the sessions ahead.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
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