What If XRP Is The Next Bitcoin? Says Dave Portnoy

Dave Portnoy, the outspoken founder of Barstool Sports, used his debut appearance at CoinDesks Consensus 2025 to train the conference spotlight XRP. Speaking on the Metro Toronto Convention Centre mainstage, Portnoy acknowledged that he bought the token for one reason only: fear of missing out.

Joined on-stage by media strategist Sam Ewan, Portnoy opened with light banter about Toronto pizzaNorth of Brooklyn still is, I would say, my favorite, he insisted, giving shout-out Bill the Greek, whos like my chaperone for Torontobefore turning to the market that drew thousands to Consensus.

Pressed on whether the current cycle is dominated by so-called meme coins, Portnoy cut to the chase. Even Bitcoin is, frankly, a memecoin, he said. The remark set the tone for a discussion that oscillated between portfolio confessions and cultural critique.

When Ewan tried to pinpoint Portnoys boldest wager, the 47-year-old rattled off winners the way others recall birthdays: Axon stock at roughly $200 (now about $700, he noted), Michigans Rose Bowl triumph, and Scottie Scheffler capturing the Masters. Yet he called those victories two different things from the instant, couch-bound gratification of watching a line of green candles. Theres something about it when you place a bet, you see Bitcoin go up, you see XRP go up, and youre just sitting on your couchI made that money not working. Thats a great feeling, he admitted.

Why XRP, Not Bitcoin

Portnoys self-diagnosed FOMO emerged in sharper relief as the conversation turned to real estate. He recalled smashing his fist on a desk after being outbid on a Miami apartment by a crypto bro who heard about Bitcoin when it was, I dont know, eight bucks, seven bucks. The episode, he said, crystallised the anxiety of missing an asymmetric trade: Ive slaved for twenty years and he just out-bid me.

That same impulse, Portnoy confessed, now drives his position in XRP. Its whattwo bucks forty cents or something like that? What if thats the next Bitcoin? he said, emphasising that his allocation reflects a speculative itch rather than a thesis about Ripples technology or tokenomics. Its FOMO. Its not like I have some grand belief in it.

In perhaps the panels most revealing anecdote, Portnoy traced his fraught history with Bitcoin to a chance encounter: I bought Bitcoin the first time for around $10,000 the Winklevoss twins were staying next door to me at a hotel and they came and explained what Bitcoin was. It was the dumbest explanation Id ever heard, and I sold it all right there.

The forfeited positionabout $2 millionwould have dwarfed every other win in his career, he conceded, underscoring the emotional swing between conviction and capitulation that defines many retail journeys through cryptos boom-and-bust cycles.

At press time, XRP traded at $2.40.

Text source: NewsBTC

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