On Aug. 13, Barstool Sports’ founder Dave Portnoy finally dived into Bitcoin and crypto after playing with the idea for a number of weeks. Portnoy, who has become a celebrity day trader since the pandemic began, got help from the Winklevoss Twins — Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss, co-founders of the Gemini crypto exchange and Bitcoin billionaires — to enter the market.
The video showing Winklevoss Twins helping Portnoy buy Bitcoin and Chainlink (LINK) was one that went crypto-viral, garnering over a million views.
As funny as it was, Portnoy was quick to make money. In the three days after he bought his coins, the Barstool founder was purportedly up tens of thousands of dollars on his initial $250,000 investment.
Unfortunately, his luck has run out. The celebrity day trader, who touts nearly two million followers on Twitter, announced on Aug. 21 that he is folding out of the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency market — potentially for good.
Dave Portnoy liquidates Bitcoin and altcoin holdings in publicized fashion
Portnoy’s crypto career began with a bang: he purchased Bitcoin and Chainlink with the help of some of the most famous people in the space and he secured sponsorship from BlockFi.
His crypto career is seemingly ending with a whimper, though.
On the morning of Aug. 21, he noted that he now owns zero “bitcoins,” referencing all cryptocurrencies and citing his losses in this nascent market:
“I currently own zero bitcoins. I will wait and watch. I lost 25k. Just like with the stock market it took my brain time to figure it out. I know this. The Link Marines are weak and the orchid flowers do die in the crypto world. I may or may not be done.”
I currently own zero bitcoins. I will wait and watch. I lost 25k. Just like with the stock market it took my brain time to figure it out. I know this. The Link Marines are weak and the orchid flowers do die in the crypto world. I may or may not be done. #bitcoin
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) August 21, 2020
He added in an edition of his daily trader livestream that he’s out of the crypto market not because Bitcoin went down, but because his holdings in Chainlink and Orchid (OXT) dropped massively. He added that he thinks the “LINK Marines” are the “worst army out there,” referencing the funny term given to proponents of the altcoin.
“I’m getting killed with Bitcoin — I’m down now on my bitcoins. Listen, it took me months to figure out the stock market… But I don’t have the time to f**k around with crypto… You LINK Marines are a bunch of f**ing frauds — you guys keeping on dumping this, not pumping it.”
Portnoy added that he may leave the cryptocurrency market for good, but seeing that Bitcoin could continue rallying to the upside, it is unclear if the investor will give up those potential gains.
He’ll stick to stocks
For the time being, the celebrity day trader will be sticking with stocks, which he jokes can only go up.
Portnoy quipped in response to a Chainlink-themed Twitter account impersonating Tyler Winklevoss:
“I make 6 figures a day like clockwork in the real stock market. No need to sit around losing money waiting for Elon to mine gold from outer space. I’ll have built my own house on the moon before that day comes. If I wanna lose 7 figs on wives tales ill stick with the track.”
