Investors in MetaPlanet (3350.T), the MicroStrategy-like Japanese bitcoin (BTC) acquisition company, are concerned about short-sellers attacking their portfolios.
A screenshot of the Bloomberg terminal with a list of bankers went viral on social media yesterday following the company’s 35% retracement from its $13.38 high.
Within just four business days this month, shares of MetaPlanet crashed from ¥1,930 ($13.38) to ¥1,251 ($8.70). Near that unnerving low, an observer screenshotted a list of share movements from various banks and blamed its bankers for short-selling those shares.
With an overly simplistic and dramatic claim designed to go viral on social media, the trader believes “banks are shorting” MetaPlanet and its “strategic BTC play.”
MetaPlanet up 330% even after the short attack
Even if the claim were true, MetaPlanet is prevailing against these bankers’ alleged attacks with definitive success. Year-to-date, MetaPlanet is up 330%. Over longer time frames, its rally is even more impressive: 1,800% over the last five years, including 1,400% over the past 12 months.
Read more: MicroStrategy wannabes and the return of mNAV mania
Nonetheless, even a slight retracement amid this obviously upward trend spooked some investors. They blamed Bank of New York Mellon, Barclays, and Morgan Stanley for a short-selling attack and even market manipulation.
“Make ‘em bleed!” they told their bullish compatriots, rallying them to “short squeeze them to Valhalla.”
Of course, it’s exceedingly unlikely that these bankers are responsible for most of MetaPlanet’s short sales. Although the Bloomberg terminal does track flows of shares moving to and from investment banks like Morgan Stanley, the location of those shares doesn’t indicate that the bank itself is directing the movement of those shares.
Traders simply saw red figures on the screenshot enumerating millions of MetaPlanet shares moving out of banks, presuming those were share loans for short-selling.
In fact, quadrillions of shares move through clearing and settlement every year for a variety of purposes. Simply tracking the movement of shares to and from banks doesn’t indicate the presence of a short sale.
Banks’ customers, not the banks themselves
Moreover, even a bank’s loan of shares for the express purpose of short-selling does not mean that its own bankers short-sold. Instead, any number of customers of that bank could have directed that short-sale or offered to lend their own shares to third-party short sellers.
In fact, the same Bloomberg terminal screenshot that sparked righteous indignation from MetaPlanet investors against supposedly short-selling bankers, specified the tiny short interest in MetaPlanet.
Buried in the top menu with the abbreviation SI % Out, Bloomberg correctly noted there a mere 1.15% short interest in MetaPlanet’s 600.7 million shares outstanding.
Needless to say, that tiny figure pales in comparison to many other companies, even mundane department store operator Kohl’s at 45% or Lemonade at 23%.
