If Dave Portnoy decides to liquidate the fake LIBRA he bought, he could lose more than two-thirds of the money he spent.
Media mogul Dave Portnoy accidentally bought a "f.a.k.e" LIBRA
Portnoy bought a fake LIBRA
Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, recently experienced a rare incident where he spent $170,000 to purchase a fake LIBRA meme coin, instead of the LIBRA that Argentine President Javier Mile had previously promoted.
Source: Solscan
Immediately afterwards, Portnoy lamented on X, warning everyone not to invest too much in this coin:
"Anyone want to buy some fake Libra? Warning: This is a meme coin. I bought it by accident. It will be volatile. It will eventually go to zero. It may rip. It may tank. Don't put in more than you can lose!!! It's just a collectible."
Anybody wanna buy some fake Libra? Warning. This is a meme coin. I bought it by accident. It will be volatile. It will eventually go to zero. It may rip. It may tank. Don't put on more than you can lose!!! It's a collectible
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) February 17, 2025
7Zt2KUh5mkpEpPGcNcFy51aGkh9Ycb5ELcqRH1n2GmAe pic.twitter.com/DGugLNBz74
Portnoy also publicly shared the contract address of this coin, leading many to question his true motives. In the crypto world, when an influential person mentions a coin, its price often rises. This has raised allegations that Portnoy is intentionally creating "exit liquidity" - that is, exploiting the community's interest to sell the coin and cut his losses.
Some people mocked him:
"This guy is basically going around begging for charity to get out of his position.""He's a millionaire but still goes around scamming people with less than him.""This guy bought a fake coin, realized it was fake, and now wants his money back."
Portnoy's transaction drove the meme coin's price up over 3,000%, raising its market capitalization to around $27 million. However, after he "confessed", the coin's price immediately plummeted, with its current market cap at only $2.46 million. According to data from Solscan, Portnoy's investment is now only worth around $50,000, meaning he has lost more than two-thirds of his initial capital.
Price fluctuations of the "fake" LIBRA, screenshot from Dexscreen at 02:30 PM on 18/02/2025
The connection between Portnoy and the "real" LIBRA
The story would not be so noteworthy if Portnoy had not previously been involved with the "real" LIBRA - the meme coin that Argentine President Javier Milei supported and then suddenly turned his back on, sparking a wave of criticism from the public and the opposition.
In an X Space conversation, Portnoy revealed that he was initially very interested in LIBRA, mainly because of President Milei's involvement. He even had plans to become an advisor to the project and had bought LIBRA as soon as it was launched.
However, the project had "freely gifted" a number of tokens and asked him to keep this information confidential. Sensing suspicious signs, Portnoy immediately returned all 6 million LIBRA and refused to promote the project.
LIBRA and the manipulation conspiracy
Last weekend, the crypto community was treated to a dramatic episode. President Javier Milei publicly promoted the meme coin LIBRA, as an economic initiative to help domestic small and medium-sized businesses. But shortly after, he suddenly deleted the post and denied any involvement.
On-chain detectives immediately went to work to uncover the truth. They discovered that behind LIBRA was Kelsier Ventures, an organization that had collaborated with the liquidity provider platform Meteora and the meme coin launchpad M3M3 to manipulate the market. This group was accused of exploiting the influence of celebrities (KOLs) for personal gain, carrying out a series of "pump & dump" schemes on Solana.
Not only LIBRA, but this organization also interfered with the meme coin MELANIA, the coin associated with the name of the former First Lady of the US. According to estimates, they have siphoned off more than $200 million from similar scams.
Compiled by Coin68
