Just months after making a grand entrance in the cryptocurrency space, the Barstool Sports Founder Dave Portnoy reaffirmed that he’s out of the field. In a recent podcast with Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano, the controversial day trader justified his exit by claiming that Bitcoin is a giant Ponzi scheme.
Portnoy has become one of the most influential and controversial faces of legacy market day trading. Earlier this year, he declared that he’s “coming to Bitcoin,” which attracted lots of attention. Even the Winklevoss twins offered their help to educate him on Bitcoin.
However, his controversy quickly followed him in the vigilant cryptocurrency field, where the community rapidly spotted his pump and dump techniques. After buying several altcoins and claiming a loss of $25,000, Portnoy said that he’s out.
In Pomp’s recent podcast, he reaffirmed that he doesn’t own any digital assets as of now. He went even further by asserting that Bitcoin is “in my mind one big Ponzi scheme.” He argued that “you get in, and you just have to not be the one left holding the bag.”
Interestingly, though, his 2020 purchase of Bitcoin wasn’t the first. He admitted that he bought about $50,000 worth of BTC during the parabolic price increase in 2017 at about $15,000. When asked if he still holds the coins, Portnoy said that he lost the hardware wallet.
One of the most notable features regarding Bitcoin has been the anonymity of the creator – Satoshi Nakamoto. Although the pseudonym is well-known and disputed, and some people claim to be Nakamoto, the true identity remains a mystery to this day.
Portnoy believes that this is a problem. He argued that if he ends up losing money or being scammed, he prefers to know who’s the person behind the entire operation. With Bitcoin, though, this “lack of accountability” raises concerns that he’s not comfortable with. Nevertheless, he noted that he’s planning to get back into BTC:
“I’ll get back. I’ve been saying that I’ll be back into Bitcoin. I don’t know when, but I’ll be back.”
He argued that the community and mostly the memes attracted him the most in the first place, and it’s what he misses the most.
