CleanSpark has become the most heavily shorted Bitcoin mining and treasury company listed on Nasdaq, with bearish positioning intensifying as the firm navigates a sharp Bitcoin drawdown and a costly pivot into AI data center infrastructure.
According to Benzinga Pro data as of April 14, 2026, CleanSpark (NASDAQ: CLSK) carried 47.20% of its float sold short, placing it on the latest ranking of the 10 most heavily shorted Nasdaq stocks with market caps above $2 billion. Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA), at 39.48%, was the only other Bitcoin-linked mining name on the list.
CleanSpark Short Interest Climbs Alongside AI Pivot
Short interest in CleanSpark rose from 84.61 million shares to 86.14 million in the latest reporting period, according to Benzinga, against an average daily volume of 19.61 million shares. The stock trades well below its 52-week high of $23.61, reflecting the heavy hit the sector has taken alongside Bitcoin’s Q1 slide.
Benzinga noted that CleanSpark and Marathon “tie the list to Bitcoin-linked mining economics,” even as other names on the roster, including Choice Hotels, Avis Budget, and Lucid Group, point to broader macro skepticism across travel, autos, and high-beta growth.
Q1 Loss Fuels Bearish Thesis Against CLSK
CleanSpark reported a net loss of $378.7 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2025, compared with a $246.8 million profit in the year-earlier period. Quarterly revenue rose 11.6% to $181.2 million, but adjusted EBITDA swung to a $295.4 million loss.
The company held $458.1 million in cash and $1 billion in Bitcoin on its balance sheet at quarter-end. Short sellers appear to be wagering that CleanSpark’s capital expenditures on AI infrastructure, combined with Bitcoin price volatility, will pressure profitability despite its Bitcoin treasury of 13,561 BTC as of March 31.
CleanSpark Leans Into Infrastructure Story
Executives continue to frame the pivot as a strength rather than a strain. “CleanSpark exited the quarter with one of the strongest balance sheets in our sector and a power and land portfolio that is increasingly scarce,” CEO and Chairman Matt Schultz said in the company’s February release, citing up to 890 megawatts of new utility-grade capacity secured in the Houston region.
President and CFO Gary Vecchiarelli struck a similar note. “CleanSpark is no longer a single-track business,” he said. “We are building an infrastructure platform with multiple, independently valuable earnings streams, all anchored by scarce, utility-grade power.”
The company produced 658 BTC in March, operating at a hashrate of 50.0 exahashes per second and deploying a fleet of 224,473 miners. Schultz has said CleanSpark is working toward securing its first AI and high-performance computing customer, a milestone bulls see as a catalyst for re-rating the stock, while bears see it as evidence of execution risk worth shorting.
