Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy said this week that he will hold his bitcoin all the way down to zero if necessary. He acknowledged that he has repeatedly mistimed the market.
“I’m holding. I’ll hold this thing down to zero,” Portnoy told FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on Varney & Co. “I know if I sell it, it’s going to go nuclear again. I’d rather go down with the ship this time.”
A costly Bitcoin purchase
Portnoy said he bought bitcoin at $100,000 and is now sitting on millions of losses. Bitcoin peaked above $126,000 in October last year. It has since fallen to around $63,000, according to CoinDesk data.
“Yeah, I got regrets. I bought the thing at $100,000. There’s nothing I’ve been wrong about more than Bitcoin. Every time I sell it, it goes nuclear. Every time I buy it, it tanks,” Portnoy noted. His exact bitcoin holdings are not publicly known.
A familiar struggle for traders
Portnoy’s comments highlight a common problem for many market participants in volatile markets. The difficulty of precise entry and exit timing traps many traders. They often sell before rallies and buy before corrections. This puts them on the wrong side of the market and turns what could be long-term gains into repeated frustration.
Whether his new holding strategy will align with bitcoin’s future direction is unclear. But his honesty demonstrates a lesson many retail investors learn the hard way. The best approach may be to stop trying to time the market and simply hold on.
Memecoin concerns
Separately, speaking from the stage at Consensus 2025, Portnoy said the memecoin scene is ultimately unsustainable. He did not provide further details on his views during that appearance.
