Short sellers backed off ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (BATS:ARKB) in May.

NewsData.io reports that short interest totaled 432,687 shares as of May 29. That is an 84.3% drop from the May 14 short interest total of 2,762,650 shares.

What the filings imply

The story is straightforward on the numbers. NewsData.io puts short interest at about 0.3% of the ETF’s shares sold short. That low figure matters because it suggests the decline is not just a small reshuffle within a tiny pool.

Still, “less short interest” does not automatically mean “less risk.” Short interest can move for many reasons that have nothing to do with whether the underlying asset is headed up or down. It mainly tells you how much of the ETF is currently being treated as a candidate for downside bets.

The timeline: May 14 to May 29

NewsData.io ties the change to a roughly two-week window. The ETF’s short interest went from 2,762,650 shares on May 14 to 432,687 shares by May 29.

For readers tracking positioning, this window is the clean part. If you are comparing activity across months, you will want to anchor on these reported dates rather than trying to interpolate from headlines.

Why this metric still needs context

Short interest is one of the few positioning snapshots that can be checked without guessing. But it is also limited. NewsData.io’s excerpt stops after the 0.3% figure and does not provide additional breakdown, such as how the decline aligns with any broader market moves or liquidity changes.

So the practical takeaway is narrower. ARKB’s reported short interest fell sharply by May 29, but that alone does not explain why. Without the missing context from the full filing data, you should treat this as a snapshot of crowd behavior, not a diagnosis of fundamentals.

What to watch next

NewsData.io’s data points readers to the next reported short interest cycle. When the next report prints, the key question is whether this drop holds steady or reverses.

If short interest drifts back up, it can signal that bearish positioning is returning. If it stays low, it means short sellers continue to sit on their hands, at least for this reported window. Either way, the numbers will give you a firmer footing than market rumor.