$RAVE Why are so many people shorting this coin?

Because it's garbage, because it's outrageous, because it clearly
doesn't resemble normal value discovery, so after it skyrockets,
the market will definitely see a large number of short positions.
But the key is not just "many people will short"
but that many
people can only short naked. Normally, if
a trader truly expects a decline in an asset, the most standard approach is not
to go all-in on a futures contract, but to borrow coins to sell spot.
Because borrowing coins to sell spot is the most direct and clean
way to express a bearish view in the spot market.
The coins you sell will directly put pressure on the spot price, and you don't
have to endure the long-term drain of funding rates from perpetual contracts.
But the problem is, for coins like RAVE with low liquidity and highly concentrated
holdings, the actual available spot to borrow and sell is limited,
the borrowing pool is shallow,
and often, you can't even borrow at all.
In other words,
the normal way to short is blocked from the start.
So those who think it's outrageous or believe it will collapse sooner or later
can only be forced to go to the futures market to express their bearish view.