NEW YORK, June 6, 2026, 18:03 (EDT)
Dave Portnoy says he’s not selling his Bitcoin or XRP, even as his crypto portfolio is down millions. The Barstool Sports founder has become a high-profile retail holder hit hard by the sharp crypto drop. In a video posted June 4 on X, Portnoy said he still owns Bitcoin, XRP and Strategy stock. “I have not made a cent in crypto, I have gotten whacked in crypto,” he said. TheStreet
Timing is important here. Bitcoin and Ether were heading for their steepest weekly drop since the FTX collapse in 2022. The digital-asset market shed about $390 billion. Exchanges liquidated nearly $7 billion in leveraged trades as margin slipped. Liquidation means exchanges shut down borrowed positions after traders can’t cover the margin.
Bitcoin hovered near $60,719 late Saturday in New York. XRP was sitting at $1.088. Shares in Strategy, the Bitcoin-heavy firm that used to be called MicroStrategy, changed hands last at $120.44.
Portnoy is hurting on his XRP position. CryptoNews.net, citing his posts, reported he bought in near $1.70 and burned through most of his spare cash as he tried to buy the dip.
Strategy surprised the market. A filing out June 1 showed it sold 32 Bitcoin from May 26 to May 31, bringing in $2.5 million at an average price of $77,135. The company said the move was to pay out distributions on preferred stock. Preferred stock pays dividends before common shares. Even after the sale, Strategy still had 843,706 Bitcoin, with an average cost of $75,699, according to the same filing.
Strategy sold a small amount of Bitcoin, but the market noticed. Investors have seen the firm as a regular Bitcoin buyer, so news of the sale got some wondering if Strategy could unload more to cover its preferred share obligations.
Bitcoin could see gains long-term if leveraged companies hold fewer coins, Zach Pandl, Grayscale’s head of research, said. But right now, “Other buyers will need to step in for bitcoin’s price to find a sustainable bottom,” Pandl said. CoinDesk
Money chasing artificial intelligence stocks and big IPOs is another source of pressure, K33 Research head Vetle Lunde said. That makes it tougher for some investors to overlook the “opportunity cost of holding BTC,” according to Lunde. CoinDesk
Michael Saylor, executive chairman at Strategy, argued Bitcoin hadn’t been weakened. “This is a capital rotation, not a Bitcoin impairment. Volatility creates opportunity,” Saylor wrote on X, CoinDesk reported. CoinDesk
Bullish CEO Tom Farley said “money and attention” are moving to things like AI and IPOs. Farley pushed for U.S. lawmakers to act on the CLARITY Act, a law to create digital asset rules. “We absolutely need the Clarity Act,” he said. CoinDesk
The drop has spilled over from tokens to stocks. Shares of Coinbase, Robinhood, and Circle—public companies with links to crypto trading or stablecoins—each lost ground in their latest sessions. Coinbase and Robinhood dropped around 7%. Circle fell about 11%.
Portnoy says he won’t sell, pointing partly to a Bitcoin bull thesis he’s repeated for a while. He’s mentioned Jack Dorsey, the former Twitter CEO, who said to Pirate Wires in 2024 that Bitcoin could hit “at least a million” dollars by 2030, TheStreet reported. TheStreet
Portnoy’s trade is under stress. ETF outflows aren’t stopping, bond yields are still up, and Strategy might dump more Bitcoin. Portnoy said he’s almost out of cash to buy any dip. If fresh buyers show up, holding could pay off, but right now the market’s still sizing up whether this “blood on the streets” is a buy signal or just more pain. CoinDesk
