Ken Griffin's Citadel Securities revealed a passive stake of about 1.7 million shares
The shares of Silvergate Capital Corp (NYSE:SI) are up 8.2% to trade at $18.78 at last check, after Ken Griffin's Citadel Securities revealed a passive stake of about 1.7 million shares of the crypto bank -- worth roughly $25 million.
The security yesterday snapped a five-day losing streak, after bouncing off the $14 level. The shares also just came off a Jan. 6, nearly three-year low of $10.81, and now carry an 86.1% year-over-year deficit.
The stock is heavily shorted, with short interest up 19.1% in the last two reporting periods. The 20.22 million shares sold short now make up a whopping 79.8% of SI's available float.
Short-term options traders also lean bearish, per Silvergate Capital stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.88, which sits higher than 98% of readings from the past year.
However, 49,000 calls have already crossed the tape today, which is triple the intraday average volume, compared to just 20,000 puts. The most popular contract is the February 20 call. Plus, SI's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) sits at 97 out of 100, meaning the equity has exceeded option traders' volatility expectations during the past 12 months.