‘I Want to Cry’: Dave Portnoy Says He Fumbled an XRP Bag Worth Millions

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy can’t help sharing his crypto fumbles, notably declaring in 2021 that he “fucked up Bitcoin” by panic-selling his stash for a huge loss the year prior.

But the outspoken personality continues to play in the crypto world, including launching his own Solana meme coins last year and pumping-and-dumping others. Now he’s griping publicly about selling off his stash of XRP before the prominent cryptocurrency surged to an all-time high on Thursday, breaking a record set back in 2018.

Portnoy shared a video to his X account late Thursday, alongside the text, “I sold my XRP two weeks ago. No further comments at this time.”

In the video, filmed from his bed, Portnoy said he sold his XRP at a price of $2.40 because “the guy who told me to buy it” told him to sell because Ripple—whose founders created XRP—would face stiff competition from Circle, the USDC issuer whose stock boomed upon IPO last month. Since then, he said XRP had surged by 60%.

Indeed, XRP has skyrocketed in recent days. On Thursday, it finally spiked above the $3.40 peak set back in January 2018, marking a new high of $3.65 per coin.

“I would’ve made millions, and I want to cry,” Portnoy said in the video. “I don’t own it anymore, even though I was the leader of the ‘XRP Army.’ I sold it. Goodnight.”

Portnoy’s X post has been viewed 2.3 million times since Thursday night. The “XRP Army” refers to die-hard XRP investors that are outspoken on social media, and have weathered the coin’s lows over the years.

“Stupid,” said one prominent pseudonymous XRP investor who goes by the name MackAttackXRP on X, when asked by Decrypt for his reaction to Portnoy’s video. The investor advised waiting for a price of $27 before selling.

“I don’t know Dave, but to me he looks like someone who needs attention,” they added.

The price of XRP has spiked by more than 600% since Donald Trump’s White House win last November, rising due in part to growing regulatory clarity in the U.S. and interest from ETF issuers in launching funds based on the cryptocurrency.

The SEC has agreed to drop its long-running lawsuit against Ripple for XRP sales, though it has yet to be fully resolved in court. The two sides recently attempted to end the case with a reduced penalty against Ripple, though the courts pushed back against the maneuver. Ripple said in June that it will drop its cross-appeal, effectively ending the case.

Additional reporting by Ryan Gladwin