“The Barstoool Founder operated up about the risks and rush of meme coins at a fireside Cat with Bullish Ceo Tom Farley.”, – WRITE: www.coindesk.com
Speaking on Stage at Consensus 2025 with Tom Farley, Ceo of Crypto Exchange Bullish, The Barstoool Sports Founder Peeled Back The Layers of His Short, Chaotic Stint in the Meme. With his usual Brash Candor, Portnoy Described A Journy of Sudden Windfolls, Legal LandMines, and The Kind of Public Backlash that Might Make Even The MOST HARDED INTERNET PROVERTEET PROVERNED INTERNET.
“I love the rush, i’m a gambler at heart,“ he admitted. “BUT THEN The SMART Part of Me is Like, is it wertho the hate?” The Conversation Was Part of a Broader Discussion About Crypto’s Culture of Special Special about Special Traders. Portnoy, Who Built Barstool Into A Media Empire on Viral Content and Sports Gambling, Found HimSelf Swept Into The Same Digital Fever.
It Started with Safemoon, One of the Earliest Viral Tokens of the Covid-Aera Crypto Boom. Portnoy Saw Social Media Posts About Traders Making “9,000,000%” Gains, Bough in, Made A Video Mocking ITS LACK OF REAL VALUE – AND GOT SUED Anyway.
“They Basical SAID SAFEMOON PAID ME TO PROMOTE OF THEM. Total Lie. Cost me $ 20k to get out of the lawsuit.” he said.
Undeterred, he pulsened Further. Inspired by the Idea of Launcing A Barstool Coin and Skipping the Hassle of Going Public, Portnoy Began Researching How Meme Coins Are Made. That led him to a developer who pitched a token called libra, allegedly Backed by the President of Argentina.
Portnoy Boughht $ 4.5 Million Worth.
“I was at Snl with Lady Gaga. I was just typing. I’m like, what the hell is going on here?” he said. The Developer Had told Him Elon Musk would Tweet about it. Institute, The President Disawowed Any Involvement. “I Lost All My Money.”
Portnoy Says Hot Lucky – The Developer Later Reimbursed Him in Full, Thought He Isn’t Sure. “I’M One of the Lucky Ones, But You Know, I’M Not Going to Not Take That Money Back.”
Despite the losses, Portnoy Kept Dabbling. HE LAUNCHED COINS CALLED GREED AND GREED 2Leaning Into the Satire. Another Coin, JailStool, Emerged from Public Outrage at His Meme Coin Experiments. Someone Else Created The Token, But Portnoy Embrated the Name and Posted ABOUT IT. At One Point, He Claims, A $ 1,000 Investment Balloooned to $ 7 Million – within and Hour.
“IT TOOK ME 13 YEARS TO MAKE THAT Kind of Money at Barstool,” HE SAID.
But What Goes Up Almost Always Crashes Back Down. Portnoy Says Hest Track of How Many Times He’s Been Acused of “Rug Pulls,” A Term for Who Inssiders Dump A Coin And Leave Latecomers With Worthless Tokens.
He described meme coins as a rigged game, Dominated by a Core Group of Early Buyers with Trading Bots and Algorithms Who Know Who to Exit. “IT’S The SAME GROUP OF WINNERS AND IT’S The SAME GROUP OF LOSERS.”
That realization sems to have changed his apetite. While He Teased The Possible Launch of Greed 3, He Admitted The Backlash is Harder to Stomach in Real Life. One Man Confronted Him in A Las Vegas Casino, Claiming He Lost $ 200,000. “It’s All Fun and Games Beind The Computer But that Reinforces People Are Lozing and Making Real Money, and they’re not Always Taking Resistance for the Risk, Even Thouhh I Think.
Despite the Money and the Memes, He Says the Meme Coin Scene Is Ultimately Unsustainable.
“I Get Wy People Like It,” HE SAID. “IT’s A FORM OF GAMBLING, IS A PONZI SCHEME, I DON’T MEAN THAT IN A NEGATIVE WAY.”
Portnoy doesn’t clam to have the Answers. But if a weathervane for whore meme coin mania might be heading, The Forecast Looks Grim. “I can’t Imagine is here to stay. I Think It’s Here to Stay for the Next Four Years. What Happy Happings After that? I Don’T KNOW.”
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