Meme coins are pure chaos, and Dave Portnoy is thriving in it. Wrong trades, wild flips, and token launches — he’s turning madness into millions. Here’s how.
The wrong LIBRA gamble
Dave Portnoy has never been one to shy away from the spotlight. From turning Barstool Sports into a media empire to his viral pizza reviews and high-stakes gambling, he has built a brand around being loud, unpredictable, and unapologetically himself.
Lately, though, his name has been making the rounds for a different reason — crypto. And not just any crypto, but meme coins, accidental trades, and a deal he ultimately walked away from.
One of the biggest stories revolves around Libra (LIBRA), a token that gained traction after Argentina’s President Javier Milei seemingly endorsed it. However, Portnoy’s involvement began with a different kind of LIBRA deal.
Portnoy revealed that he had been paid roughly 6 million LIBRA tokens to promote the project, but after its founder, Hayden Davis, allegedly asked him to keep quiet about the arrangement, Portnoy decided to return the money.
Then, in one of his most bizarre investment blunders, he mistakenly bought nearly $170,000 worth of the wrong LIBRA token — one with a completely different contract address than the high-profile version making headlines.
Realizing his mistake, Portnoy took to X with his trademark mix of self-deprecation, writing, “Anybody wanna buy some fake Libra? Warning: This is a meme coin. I bought it by accident… It will be volatile. It will eventually go to zero.”
Meanwhile, the actual LIBRA token that Milei had helped pump reached a staggering $4.5 billion market cap — only to crater by 95% when the president abruptly withdrew his support.
Milei himself is now facing accusations of financial misconduct, with some political opponents even calling for his impeachment.
But that hasn’t slowed Portnoy down. If anything, it seems to have only fueled his full-throttle dive into meme coins. Let’s break down the swirling speculations and how the crypto community is reacting to the chaos.
Portnoy’s meme coin frenzy hits overdrive
Just days after mistakenly buying the wrong Libra token and returning 6 million worth of the original LIBRA tokens, Portnoy decided to take matters into his own hands — launching his own tokens, flipping them within hours, and riding the wild volatility that defines the space.
On Feb. 18, Portnoy introduced a new token called GREED through Pump.fun, a Solana (SOL)-based platform designed to simplify meme coin creation.
The branding was as on-the-nose as it gets, featuring an image of Michael Douglas’s Gordon Gekko from Wall Street, the character infamous for the line, “Greed is good.”
And for a brief moment, it was. The token skyrocketed, reaching a peak market cap of $41.5 million in just a few hours.
As the excitement built, Portnoy embraced the moment, posting on X: “I kept hearing how meme coins were dead? I’m able to turn 2k into just about a million in 15 minutes if I felt like it. Doesn’t seem dead to me.”
But within a day, he moved all his GREED tokens into another project he had previously endorsed — JAILSTOOL — publicly declaring, “Just put all of #Greed into #jailstool which I’m never selling ‘cause I said I wouldn’t sell.”
Then, on-chain data revealed that Portnoy had swapped every single GREED token he owned for JAILSTOOL tokens in a single transaction, worth an estimated $250,000 at the time, instantly crashing the price of GREED by 99%.
His decision to cash out sparked backlash, with many accusing him of a “rug pull” — a term used when developers or influencers drain liquidity from a project, leaving late investors holding worthless tokens.
Portnoy quickly defended himself, posting: “I have literally only said I will not sell 1 coin. That coin is #jailstool until it hits the 1 billion market cap.”
He continued, claiming that he could have made over a million dollars from the sale but instead let GREED drop by 75% before exiting.
“Lots of people made money. I took the profits + poured it into #jailstool, which I can’t touch. I didn’t make a dime on it. Some people won, some lost. Only the losers keep bitching.”
Then, rather than retreating, Portnoy leaned into the controversy, boasting that he could create another token just as easily, and it would still “moon,” because, as he put it, “Nobody has principles. Just greed.”
Hours later, he followed through, launching GREED2 and warning investors not to put in more than they could afford to lose.
Unlike its predecessor, GREED2 struggled to gain traction. It briefly climbed to a $7 million market cap before plummeting 90% over the next five hours.
On Feb. 20, he was back on X again, sharing screenshots of his Phantom Wallet balances, revealing staggering gains — 1,923% on GREED, 344% on GREED2, and various smaller profits across other meme coins.
Critics condemned Portnoy’s actions as reckless, pointing to the damage they cause to retail investors who jump in late. As for Portnoy, he doesn’t seem concerned. If anything, he appears to be fully embracing the chaos.
SEC heat or just noise?
As Portnoy’s meme coin antics escalate, social media has become a hotbed for speculation, accusations, and unverified rumours.
One of the biggest claims making the rounds is that Portnoy may be facing legal trouble. “Rumors emerging that court documents reveal Dave Portnoy is facing multiple SEC securities violations charges,” posted one user.
However, no actual filings or statements from regulators have emerged to confirm this.
Adding to the speculation, the SEC recently unveiled the creation of a cybercrime unit aimed at tackling fraud in the crypto industry. The timing of this move has led some to suggest a direct link between Portnoy’s recent token flips and the regulatory shift.
“Portnoy rugs five tokens live on a stream, two days later the SEC launches a cybercrime unit,” wrote one user.
Another post adopted a more sarcastic tone: “Portnoy scammed so hard the SEC had to launch a new cyber division.”
Rather than addressing the allegations head-on, Portnoy opted to mock the situation, flipping the SEC’s announcement to jab at his critics.
“Love it! So many scammers and liars out there. Let’s clean this space up! Take out the trash,” he posted, before taking a swipe at those calling him a fraud. “Can we arrest the crybabies who are told meme coins are a risk and then cry foul too?”
So far, it’s all just noise—no official actions or formal accusations. But the growing uproar reveals how deeply his actions have divided the crypto community. Still, Portnoy isn’t backing down. If anything, he’s doubling down.
Hype over fundamentals, chaos over caution
Portnoy’s foray into the meme coin market is quickly shaping up to be a masterclass in how hype, rather than fundamentals, can drive value in crypto.
While most traders focus on returns, Portnoy seems more intrigued by the mechanics of attention. He leverages his massive following to trigger market movements, all while watching the real-time ripple effect unfold.
“He’s discovered an infinite money glitch — he tweets a ticker to his 3.5M followers, and it instantly moons, then he does it again,” said Punk, the pseudonymous CCO at Memecoin (MEME), capturing how Portnoy’s reach alone is enough to spark immediate volatility.
But it’s not just about the money. “He’s amused by the hamster wheel of traders blindly following his moves, so he keeps spinning it.”
Portnoy creates a token, watches it surge, then either exits or moves on to the next. Traders know the risk but dive in anyway — not because they believe in the token, but because the activity itself is the draw.
This phenomenon is far from isolated. Platforms like Pump.fun have made meme coin creation almost effortless. Since launching in January 2024, over 7.8 million tokens have been created on the platform as of Feb. 21, most offering little beyond speculative thrills.
As a result, the market has become a revolving door of viral trends, where the next big token isn’t determined by innovation, but by how quickly it can spread.
“Honestly, trust in crypto isn’t exactly at an all-time high,” said Tobin Kuo, CEO of Seraph Studios, in an interview with crypto.news. “At this point, even veterans are joking that the space is turning into the world’s largest casino.”
That could explain why Portnoy has gone beyond just trading — he’s creating. As Punk puts it, “Every legal expert warning him only pushes him to do more. The backlash fuels his next move.”
Whether this model can last or eventually collapse under its own weight remains to be seen, but as long as the hype keeps driving the market, the cycle isn’t stopping.
