Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, has forcefully pushed back against accusations that his recent meme coin trading constitutes a pump-and-dump scheme. Taking to social media platform X on Feb. 7, he posted: “We all know the rules. We’re all trying to make a buck. Nobody is misleading anybody. If you are buying and selling shitcoins, you should be prepared to lose your investment. It’s a risk.”
Portnoy’s Defense: Transparent Market, Informed Participants
In a series of videos, Portnoy elaborated on his entry into the altcoin market, admitting he was unfamiliar with such trading until someone showed him how it worked. He described his first successful trade: “A guy taught me how to get in … I bought [a coin], tweeted that I bought it, the thing went up, then I sold it.” Repeating the pattern with another meme coin, he turned roughly $10,000 into $75,000 in a short time. “I feel as though I could sit here and make millions trading shitcoins. Do you go to jail for this? Can I not do this? I think it’s legal … This is just being a trader,” he said.
Portnoy emphasized that his trades involved existing coins, not his own token: “This isn’t my own coin. If I launch my own coin, put my name on it, trust me, I’m going to make sure I don’t get f***ing scammed, I’m not gonna rug pull, I’m not gonna dump, I’m not going to do any of that shit. These are other coins that are already out there that I’m telling you I bought. You know what I’m doing. I’m trying to make money. It pops, I sell it when I feel like it.”
Regulatory Shift in the U.S.: Meme Coins as Collectibles?
Portnoy’s comments come amid a shifting regulatory landscape in the United States. Recent changes at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could signal a more lenient stance on speculative crypto trading. Crypto Czar David Sacks has argued that meme coins should be classified as collectibles rather than financial instruments or securities, framing them as speculative assets outside traditional securities regulations. The space has also seen increased mainstream acceptance, with high-profile figures like Donald Trump launching his own TRUMP token and Melania Trump releasing a cryptocurrency.
Addressing critics who lost money, Portnoy argued: “You’re just mad you didn’t dump them on f***ing me … So stop crying. Everyone knows the rules. This isn’t like Joe Six-Pack or your grandmother who’s losing their life savings. This is everybody playing the same game which is legal now. They’re collectibles … They’re going up and down. Sacks said it. You all know the score … I’ve lost tons of money on shitcoins. Don’t cry because you’re too late.”