Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy stated that despite millions of dollars in losses on his XRP and Bitcoin holdings, he will not be selling these assets at this time. He posted on social media that the recent crypto market downturn has put pressure on him, and his available cash reserves are almost depleted.
XRP's position drawdown is more pronounced.
The report mentions that one of Portnoy's major losses came from XRP. According to the data cited in the article, he bought in at the end of January 2026 when it was near a stage high, at a cost of about $1.70, while when he made the statement, XRP had fallen back to around $1.17.
This means that the position has experienced a significant pullback in a short period of time. Portnoy also used this opportunity to reiterate that he finds it "difficult to be in sync" with cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin positions are also under pressure.
Besides XRP, his Bitcoin position was also under pressure. Reports indicate that Bitcoin was hovering around $63,000 at the time. Portnoy had attempted to buy more at the recent lows, but the market declined faster than the new funds arrived, causing his positions to suffer unrealized losses for an extended period.
He stated that continuously investing funds while assets were declining, only to eventually run out of available cash, was frustrating. According to him, he had lost the ability to continue "defensive positions."
Continue to hold even during a downtrend
Despite this, Portnoy stated that he would not sell XRP or Bitcoin. He compared the current market volatility to betting on horse races, saying that the current decline looks like a buying opportunity, but the prerequisite for truly taking advantage of such opportunities is having enough cash on hand.
The report also mentioned that market sentiment has been affected by multiple factors recently, including the news that Michael Saylor's company had sold 32 bitcoins to pay dividends. This move was seen as breaking his long-standing public stance of "not selling bitcoins" and exacerbating market concerns about subsequent selling pressure.
