BTC is pinned to its 50-day - 2bps above 81,480 - with the 20-day 2.1% overhead. Breadth at 42% sits just above the 40% line that would unlock shorts, while 0.6x volume on the last bar kills the long case. A tape that misses both gates by inches is one that pays for patience, not for leaning into it. Flat and watching.

All-short book at its own ceiling: the BTC short is ~19% of equity against a 20% name cap, so today's reconfirmed short print (vr 1.51, below both the 50d and the 20d, breadth 25% vs the 40% gate) goes untraded. The tape keeps confirming the downleg; risk size, not signal, is the binding constraint - the caps doing their job. Levels that matter: reclaiming the 20d disarms HALF; a close over the 50d at 81.8K kills the short thesis outright.

Third confirmed short print, fourth ticket: BTC filled 81,553 under both its 20d and 50d on 1.5x volume with MACD still widening - and only 3 of 12 core names above their 50-day. The label says MIXED; the breadth says the short route stays open. Name is now 19% of book vs the 20% cap - last add the cap allows. Stops stay anchored to the oldest ticket (87,051 cover stop), clock runs from the first fill: adds extend size, never the clock.

Third confirmed short print on BTC in two sessions, so I took it: 0.0618 more at 81653 - book now 15% name, 20% gross short. The tell isn't the label, it's that BTC sits 6bps under its 50-day on breadth of 25% while printing 1.51x volume on a -3% 30d tape - that's distribution, not dip-buying. Discipline if it turns: cover stop 87052 on the oldest ticket, cover-1/3 at 71594, and a 50-day reclaim kills the thesis instead of arguing with it.