A few days ago, Dave Portnoy returned to Bitcoin with an almost $1.1M buy of 29.5 BTC. Today, he thinks “you are an idiot if it’s not part of your portfolio.” The Barstool Sports owner and main personality might have a point, but the whole situation is still funny. Especially, considering everything Portnoy has said about Bitcoin over the years.
Related Reading | Barstool’s Dave Portnoy Wants to Buy Bitcoin – Asks Winklevoss Twins to Teach Him
The born-again Bitcoiner visited Stuart Varney in his “Varney & Co.” show at the FOX Business Network. This is what happened:
Always fun joining @Varneyco to talk Bitcoin, $Penn and Brady pic.twitter.com/NNUV3ALlpW
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) February 4, 2022
What Did Dave Portnoy Tell Stuart Varney About Bitcoin?
In 2020, the Winklevoss twins helped Portnoy to make his first Bitcoin investment. There was a small dip, and Portnoy panicked and sold it all. The community mocked him, and he went on to make questionable investments, but that’s neither here nor there. In the “Varney & Co.” interview, Portnoy reveals “I was waiting for my reentry point.” Impressively, he bought in at $36.9K.
Then, Stuart Varney reminds Dave Portnoy that he said he was getting out of Bitcoin because he didn’t understand it, and asks him if he does now. Portnoy responds, “No, no I haven’t figured them out. But here’s what I have figured out, Bitcoin is here to stay. It’s not going anywhere. It’s widely adopted. You see main institutions getting in. It’s the future.”
Even though Portnoy has a point, it’s funny that he hasn’t even begun to do the homework yet. He just trusts the main institutions’ research and due diligence and goes with it. Retail investors don’t have that luxury, but Portnoy is a wealthy man and his investment is just a small part of his portfolio. In any case, he promises that he will build on it, and eventually, “I’ll probably have a Billion dollars worth of Bitcoin.”
What Gives Bitcoin Its Value?
Near the end of the Bitcoin talk, Varney challenges him. He tells Portnoy that he’s too old to wait for Bitcoin to take over, and then, Varney tells him what he really thinks: “It’s a gambling chip. It’s not a store of value.” Portnoy, who hasn’t done the homework, can’t answer in a proper fashion. We can, though.
According to Varney, Bitcoin’s price “depends entirely on how many people want to buy it and how many people want to sell it.” That’s true, like every market on Earth the price of bitcoin responds to supply and demand. However, the value of Bitcoin comes from the network.
All over the world, thousands of people invested their money in ASICs that validate transactions. They buy energy and get compensated for it by a system that no one controls and has no owner. Plus, thousands of node operators keep everyone in check. Plus, millions of holders took their money out of the traditional system and betted on this emerging one. And this is just the beginning.
Besides that, those “gambling chips” that Varney mentioned happen to have the characteristics of perfect money. Mankind has been looking for something like this since it realized that it needed some kind of technology to organize and facilitate trade, which is the bedrock of society. However, if someone owned the Bitcoin network, “the characteristics of perfect money” wouldn’t be worth a damn. But, no one does. Bitcoin is for everyone.
BTC price chart for 02/05/2022 on Gemini | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
What Has Portnoy Said About Bitcoin?
Mark this as this article’s comedy section. When Portnoy first liquidated all of his bitcoin investment, these were the numbers he was dealing with:
“Portnoy clarified a day later that he actually lost $20,000 from his initial $1,250,000 investment, which amounts to a mere 1.6%. Many in the cryptocurrency space referenced the number, noting how Portnoy wasn’t ready for the fast and volatile Bitcoin market.”
After being mocked, he doubled down on his stance and tried to get people to focus on the stock market.
“I’m begging my crypto friends to get involved in the stockmarket. Bitcoin is stuck in the mud. Let me lead you. We will get back to crypto later. The time to strike is now! No time for weak hands! Make the move!”
Related Reading | Seller’s Remorse: Day Trader Dave Portnoy Swears Off Bitcoin
To make things funnier, when Portnoy bought Safemoon, he promised:
“I’m never buying Bitcoin. Never never, I don’t believe a thing about it. But I do think it’s profitable, and I think there’s enough steam that it may just continue to go up forever. But I don’t buy the underlying junk behind it.”
Maybe that’s because Portnoy hasn’t even done the minimum effort to understand “the underlying junk behind it.” However, cheers to him for admitting his assessment of the situation was wrong and correcting his course.
Featured Image: screenshot from Portnoy in Varney & Co. | Charts by TradingView
