Crowded Short vs Short Squeeze

A market condition in which an excessive proportion of leveraged participants are positioned short, typically indicated by a long/short ratio below 0.7 and negative funding; associated with elevated short squeeze risk as shorts face mounting carry costs on positions that are not being rewarded.

A rapid price advance driven by the forced closing of short positions; rising price liquidates or prompts voluntary closing of short positions, both of which require buying that accelerates the advance; most likely when short positioning is crowded and large liquidation clusters exist above current price.