After a brief hiatus from crypto trading, Dave Portnoy says he’s coming back to Bitcoin, but are there other reasons for his return?
Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, is coming back to Bitcoin (BTC) after abruptly abandoning trading digital currencies when his Chainlink (LINK) investment went belly up. In a recent video, Portnoy said his “heart is crypto” and would make a return to the cryptocurrency market soon.
The internet personality, who became a popular day trader after the coronavirus pandemic, entered the Bitcoin market on Aug. 14 after meeting with avid billionaire Bitcoin investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. After receiving a quick refresher on what crypto is and how to trade it, Portnoy reportedly bought a significant amount of Bitcoin and Chainlink (LINK).
XBT/USD daily chart. Source: TradingView.com
Unbeknownst to Portnoy, his LINK purchase was near the top of a more than 1000% rally and he was far from pleased when his position registered a loss as LINK price retraced sharply. Shortly thereafter, Portnoy announced that he was leaving the cryptocurrency market. On Aug. 22, he said, “I’m out on crypto because coins don’t always go up.” Funny enough, after a strong crypto market correction, he is now hinting at a comeback.
The “crypto people” are the most “enjoyable group of people”
According to Portnoy, he feels many investors in the cryptocurrency market share the same personality as himself.
The outgoing entrepreneur and investor said his “heart is crypto” and will soon be back. He said:
“The crypto people, just about the most enjoyable group of people I’ve ever met. They are f*cking crazy. They are crazy on social media, they are crazy on Twitter, they have the same f*cking personality I do, they are gamblers at heart, they slant, they laugh at themselves, they just want to make money. I will be in crypto. My heart is crypto. But I just gotta figure it out.”
Since Portnoy said he is exiting the cryptocurrency market, the price of Bitcoin dropped by around 12%. Major altcoins, including Ether (ETH) and LINK, recorded even steeper falls against the U.S. dollar.
LINK, which Portnoy remains enthusiastic about, declined by 21% since Aug. 22. But altcoins have seen bigger pullbacks than Bitcoin due to their strong rallies throughout the second half of 2020. LINK rose from $4.74 on Jul. 6 to as high as $19.99 on Aug. 16, recording a 325% rally.
The timing is interesting
The timing of Portnoy’s message to the cryptocurrency community is intriguing because it comes after the Nasdaq saw the fastest 10% drop in history.
The problem with the current landscape of the U.S. stock market is that many strategists saw the pullback coming. Tech stocks, especially, started to fall after reports that SoftBank was likely the “Nasdaq whale” that drove prices up with a gargantuan $4 billion options bet on U.S. equities.
Alexis Gray, a Vanguard investment strategist, said the bull run was difficult to sustain due to the gap in market performance and global economic trends. He said:
“Equities were priced to perfection. That was always going to be difficult to sustain when you have a disconnect between how markets are performing and what global economies are doing.”
Nonetheless, Portnoy is soon heading back to Bitcoin and he had a few words for the cryptocurrency community. He stated:
“I love you crypto, I love the LINK marines.”
