In plain terms
The Central forensic question of the January 2021 GameStop short squeeze — and of US equity-market short-selling mechanics generally — remains deliberately unresolvable with current public disclosure.
The Central forensic question of the January 2021 GameStop short squeeze — and of US equity-market short-selling mechanics generally — remains deliberately unresolvable with current public disclosure. This divergence names the blind spot and the engine's explicit posture toward it.
The claim (multiple sources): The DTCC's Continuous Net Settlement (CNS) system permits the generation of 'phantom' or synthetic shares via Failure-to-Deliver (FTD) cycles, ex-clearing arrangements, total-return swap derivative exposure, and B7A exemptions. Naked short selling — executing short sales without legitimate pre-borrow — generates persistent FTDs that synthetically dilute the reported float. The 140% GME short interest Q4 2020 was either (a) mathematically closable via normal borrow/cover mechanics, (b) only closable through a market-collapse-level event because a material portion was synthetic, or (c) unknowable from public data.