Think about how a prime broker generates a 'locate' for a short seller:
>They don't lock a specific serialized certificate
>They point to aggregate street-name inventory held at DTC / omnibus brokers as 'reasonable grounds to believe' the share can be borrowed
>Meanwhile CFD/IOU platforms like eToro and zero-fee IOU apps internalize retail buys off-exchange so the lit bid never moves
Every time an investor pulls 500 shares out of street name into Computershare (DRS Book), or withdraws 25,000 $$DOGE into a cold wallet, the fractional-reserve locate multiplier shrinks.
