Dave Portnoy, the outspoken founding father of Barstool Sports, is not any stranger to controversy. This time, his foray into the meme coin sector has left a path of economic wreckage and confusion.
The case provides to the flurry of controversies round new token launches, drawing debates about ethics in crypto buying and selling.
Dave Portnoy and the Rug Pulls to the Community
It began with Portnoy’s launch of GREED, a meme coin he promoted as a collectible token. According to on-chain analyst Lookonchain, Portnoy purchased 357.92 million GREED tokens, representing 35.79% of the full provide.
Then, in a single swift transfer, he bought his whole holding, inflicting the worth of GREED to plummet by 99%. Despite the market crash, Portnoy walked away with a revenue of roughly $258,000.
While Portnoy cashed out, others had been much less lucky. One investor misplaced $101,000 in three hours, buying GREED with 911 SOL (price $153,000) earlier than promoting for 309 SOL ($52,000) amid the worth collapse.
“Dave Portnoy’s sell-off caused this guy to lose $101K on Greed in 3 hours! This guy spent 911 SOL ($153K) to buy Greed, and sold it for 309 SOL ($52K), losing 602 SOL ($101K),” Lookonchain reported.
The speedy devaluation raised questions on market manipulation and the ethics of holding a good portion of the token’s provide.
Meanwhile, this isn’t Portnoy’s first brush with crypto drama. Just days earlier than launching GREED, he was embroiled within the LIBRA meme coin scandal. Reportedly, Portnoy was supplied over 6 million LIBRA tokens pre-launch however returned them upon studying he couldn’t disclose his involvement.
“Dave Portnoy revealed he was offered over 6 million LIBRA tokens pre-launch However, he sent them back after being told he could not disclose receiving them. There are likely dozens of influencers who accepted tokens without disclosure. He is the only one who came forward,” BlockNews revealed on X.
He stays one of many few influencers to confess being approached with undisclosed tokens, sparking hypothesis about different influencers who could have secretly taken the deal.
Portnoy’s Move From GREED to GREED2
Unfazed by the backlash, Portnoy launched GREED2, securing 268.25 million tokens, or 26.8% of the full provide.
“Don’t invest in this collectible coin with more than you can afford to lose. It will be volatile. I will not sell 1 penny until at least midnight EST or maybe never. Be careful,” he warned potential patrons in a submit.
Despite the warning, many considered the transfer as one other potential “rug pull” waiting to happen, with some customers on X voicing their frustrations.
“IDC [I don’t care] if he wants to buy and sell coins when he’s transparent about it Encouraging people to hold and not sell and saying he’s not going to sell, then full stacking, is disgusting,” Liv, a well-liked consumer on X, commented.
The consumer additionally highlighted Portnoy’s hypocrisy, criticizing different crypto figures whereas seemingly replicating related techniques.
At the identical time, Portnoy started selling one other token, JAILSTOOL, listed on the Kraken exchange. He mentioned all his GREED income had been reinvested into JAILSTOOL, which he by no means vowed to promote.
However, customers rapidly known as him out, noting inconsistencies in his narrative. One identified that whereas Portnoy deployed GREED, he had no direct involvement with JAILSTOOL, resulting in extra skepticism about his intentions and transparency.
“…greed was actually deployed by you. Jailstool was not, and you also said you weren’t going to sell greed, lol,” crypto and NFT fanatic moonpie666 remarked.
In response to the mounting criticism, Portnoy took to X to defend his actions and make clear the darker facet of the meme coin market.
“There are lots of people in the meme coin world who try to act like they are the moral authority when all they want to do is dump on you and make easy money. The entire ecosystem is Greed and nothing else. Go dump on each other peasants but don’t complain to me if you lose money,” he expressed.
His blunt feedback did little to quell the backlash, with critics accusing him of exploiting his affect and perpetuating the GREED he claimed to criticize. Some customers argued that Portnoy’s ventures in GREED and GREED2 had been no completely different from different pump-and-dump schemes prevalent within the meme coin house.
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