Dave Portnoy claims to buy fake LIBRA worth $170,000 by mistake, the trenches aren’t convinced

Dave Portnoy claimed to have mistakenly bought a fake LIBRA coin worth $170,000 instead of the controversial coin shared by Argentinian President Javier Milei. 

Portnoy then proceeded to share the token’s contract address on X, asking users not to invest more than they can lose. He said in the X post, “Anybody wanna buy some fake Libra? Warning. This is a meme coin. I bought it by accident.” 

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

7Zt2KUh5mkpEpPGcNcFy51aGkh9Ycb5ELcqRH1n2GmAe pic.twitter.com/DGugLNBz74

— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) February 17, 2025

He also mentioned that the fake LIBRA coin will be volatile and will eventually go to zero. He added, “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’s $170,000 investment in this fake token is now worth only $50,000 according to Solscan data at press time. However, when Dave purchased the coin, its value initially pumped over 3000%, hitting a market cap of $27 million. Since then, it is down to a market cap of $2.46 million.

If Dave sells his tokens now at the current price, he would lose more than two-thirds of his initial investment. 

The trenches are not convinced

The trenches, however, are not fully convinced. Traders under Dave Portnoy’s X post are questioning whether it is a genuine mistake, or just a front for a grifting attempt. 

Usually, when an influencer mentions a coin publicly, it’s price and market cap go up. Since Dave shared the coin’s contract address, several users are accusing Dave Portnoy of trying to find exit liquidity to cover his losses. 

One user replied, “Dudes basically asking for charity exit liquidity” while another user accused Dave of grifting by stating, “Dude, you’re a multi-millionaire trying to grift off people who have less than you.” 

Some users went further to hit Dave Portnoy with banter. @100xgemfinder on X said to Dave Portnoy, “Bro buys a fake coin, realizes it’s fake and wants his money back”

Dave Portnoy was involved in the original token launch

Yesterday, Portnoy disclosed details about his role in the launch of the LIBRA token that pulled Javier Milei into a huge controversy. According to Portnoy, he had plans to become a part of the project as an advisor, and bought the coin when it launched. 

Later, Dave Portnoy returned 6 million tokens after Hayden Davis suggested not disclosing the gift. Dave said in an X Space, “I’m not going to tweet about this f—ing launch and act like I’m just, ‘Oh, Milei’s the f—ing best’…and not mention that they have given me coins.”

Cryptopolitan Academy: Are You Making These Web3 Resume Mistakes? - Find Out Here