Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy sparked discussion at Consensus 2025 after revealing a new position in XRP and sharing thoughts on Bitcoin’s evolving role.
Dave Portnoy, the President of Barstool Sports and a popular internet personality, caused a stir at the Consensus 2025 event. Known for his bold opinions, Portnoy discussed digital asset markets, focusing on XRP and the largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. With an almost rhetorical question, he predicted that XRP could be the next BTC.
XRP as a New Frontier Amid Market FOMO
At the heart of Portnoy’s comments was his surprising position on the fourth-largest digital asset XRP. Speaking openly at the event, Portnoy admitted that he holds XRP. He pointed to the current market enthusiasm swirling around the coin.
It is worth noting that Portnoy is not the only one optimistic about XRP. In a previous update, Coinspeaker noted a bold prediction from renowned crypto lawyer John Deaton. Deaton believes XRP could flip Ethereum in market value by the end of this year.
In his comments, Portnoy mentioned that XRP is now in the spotlight where Bitcoin once stood during its early days. He did not hide that his bet on XRP is not grounded in a deep belief in the project’s fundamentals. He stressed that the excitement and fear of missing out, commonly called FOMO, caught his attention.
In addition, Portnoy said that FOMO is influencing the crypto market heavily right now. He talked mainly about meme coins, whose prices have significantly fluctuated recently.
He emphasized that his decision to invest in XRP is primarily based on observing the market’s behavior rather than any technical research or insider information. His approach is shaped by the desire not to miss out if XRP achieves a similar path to Bitcoin.
However, he believes Bitcoin, being an established asset at this point, no longer attracts the same level of speculative energy. Instead, XRP sits at a price of around $2.3. This mirrors the early days of Bitcoin, when the mainstream primarily overlooked it.
More people are also betting on XRP, as seen recently. A whale recently moved $782 million in XRP, causing the price to explode, surging past $2.60. Based on market sentiment, XRP is positioning for a greater price swing.
The Role of Past Experiences In Dav Portnoy’s Crypto Moves
Portnoy shared a story from his past about losing out on a fancy apartment in Miami. According to him, he got outbid by a crypto bro. Someone he thinks made money early on by buying Bitcoin when it was just $7- $8.
He was unsure whether the buyer purchased the apartment directly with Bitcoin or cashed out first. However, the experience stayed with him and influenced his perspective on the opportunities within crypto.
Portnoy first got into Bitcoin in 2020 after the Winklevoss twins advised him to. He bought Bitcoin and coins like Chainlink (LINK), but sold quickly when the market dipped. Even though he made that early mistake, by 2024, he said he was ready to put $10 million into Bitcoin if the price ever fell to the $40,000 zone. Currently, CoinMarketCap data shows Bitcoin trading at $102,960.68.
Rather than fall as he expected, Bitcoin has continued to gain wider adoption. Coinspeaker noted recently that Top Win International rebranded as AsiaStrategy to add Bitcoin to its treasury across Asia.
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