On February 7th, 2025, Dave Portnoy, the controversial founder of Barstool Sports, unexpectedly plunged into the world of memecoin trading, transforming what began as a casual foray into a financial rollercoaster. His entry was announced via a tweet showcasing his Phantom wallet, displaying a substantial holding of 2.68 million MONTOYA tokens.

He bought 357.92M $Greed (35.79% of the total supply), later he sold all $357.92M $Greed in a single transaction, causing the price of the meme coin to crash by 99%,though admitting it was a mistake.

Dave Portnoy Sell-Off

Dave Portnoy’s February 19, 2025, selloff significantly impacted the market, resulting in substantial losses for at least one investor. A Lookonchain tweet from that day revealed an investor’s purchase of 911 SOL ($153,000) followed by a sale of 309 SOL ($52,000) just three hours later—a loss of 602 SOL ($101,000). Solscan transaction data corroborates the timing and amounts.

This event highlights the volatility and risk associated with meme coins like $Greed, which often experience sharp price movements driven by high-profile investors’ actions. The sell-off by Dave, a well-known figure in the financial and crypto community, was a catalyst for the rapid price drop, illustrating the influence of social media and celebrity endorsements on cryptocurrency prices.

The market cap of the coin before the sell-off was approximately $200 million, and it dropped to $150 million within the three-hour period, reflecting a 25% decline.

Crypto Market Effect

Dave Portnoy’s recent sell-off has had a dramatic impact on $Greed token trading. The precipitous price drop—from $168 to $123 per token in just three hours—resulted in a substantial decrease in trading volume, plummeting from 12 million to 4 million tokens during the same period. The implications for investors are significant.

This sudden drop in volume indicates a loss of confidence among traders, who were likely influenced by the sell-off and the subsequent price drop. The $Greed/$SOL trading pair saw a similar decline, with the price dropping from 0.168 $SOL per $Greed to 0.123 $SOL per $Greed.

Furthermore on-chain metrics further illustrate the impact of the sell-off, with the number of active addresses on the $Greed network decreasing from 5,000 to 3,000 within the same period.The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) also turned negative, with the MACD line crossing below the signal line, further confirming the bearish sentiment in the market.