yes, but you can short BTC with leverage, even high, almost naked. And if you have deep pockets or a money printer you can short forever. But I guess that now the lizards are undecided between milking and killing crypto.
There are limits. Most exchanges don't allow shorting. Those that do have a limited amount of BTC they can lend out. These limits won't be noticed by the small players but are very real for a larger player trying to move the market.
This is different from other markets where unlimited naked short selling is allowed and overlooked.