Dave Portnoy, the outspoken founder of Barstool Sports, is known for his blunt opinions, especially when it comes to finance and internet culture. As the world of cryptocurrency continues to shift rapidly, Portnoy has been a loud and controversial voice in that space. Ahead of his appearance at the Consensus 2025 conference in Toronto, he gave an interview where he described memecoins as “legalized Ponzi schemes.” He explained that he was once interested in launching a Barstool-branded token but backed off due to concerns that it might harm his fanbase financially.
Portnoy said he was drawn to the idea of memecoins while considering ways to expand Barstool’s reach into digital assets. However, he concluded that most of these coins are built without any real purpose or utility. In his words, “there’s no value to it, so you gotta get in and get out before it crashes.” While he chose not to attach the Barstool name to any coin, Portnoy did launch a token called GREED in February. That token briefly reached a market cap of over $41 million. According to blockchain data, Portnoy acquired over 35% of the GREED supply before selling it all in one move, triggering a price drop. He made an estimated $258,000 from the sale and later defended himself by saying he had warned investors he might sell. He insisted that he could have earned more but chose not to fully cash out at the peak.
His journey in financial markets began during the COVID-19 pandemic when he started streaming stock trades under the name “Davey Day Trader.” His trading approach was not rooted in strategy, often making decisions based on chance or impulse. One example was his decision to invest $200,000 in Raytheon Technologies after pulling random letters from a Scrabble bag. Around that time, he was also introduced to bitcoin. Portnoy has publicly expressed mixed feelings about the cryptocurrency, saying he’s often been wrong about it and lost money. Still, he believes crypto is now a key part of the financial world and can’t be ignored.
Portnoy has tried various crypto-related ventures over the years, including an NFT based on his One Bite Pizza Reviews channel, which sold for $138,000. He also once accepted bitcoin donations for Barstool’s small business relief fund, but the results were underwhelming. Despite raising $50 million for the fund, only about $30,000 came through bitcoin. He said many in the crypto community promised more support than they actually gave.
Although he criticizes many aspects of crypto culture, Portnoy admits he is drawn to it. He says the community is full of strange, entertaining characters who, despite their flaws, make the space more interesting. While he remains skeptical about the promises made by crypto advocates, Portnoy still enjoys being part of the conversation and will continue to share his views — blunt and controversial as they may be.
