Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy said he is waiting for XRP to reach $1.75 before making any major investments.
On December 18, 2025, XRP was trading in a range of $1.84 to $1.90.
“Love-hate” relationship
Dave Portnoy has had a “love-hate” relationship with XRP this year. This relationship can be characterized by emotional bargaining, poor timing, and aggressive reentries.
He admitted that he had no interest in technology or basics. He bought purely out of FOMO (fear of missing out), calling himself the “leader of the XRP army” and comparing XRP’s potential to early Bitcoin.
In June, he panicked and sold all of his XRP holdings, worth about $3 million, for about $2.40. A friend warned him that stablecoin regulation (especially regarding Circle/USDC) could hurt Ripple.
Immediately after he sold, XRP soared to around $3.65. Portnoy was publicly depressed, saying he “wanted to cry” and felt “sick” after missing out on millions of dollars in profits.
This cemented his “paper-handed” reputation in the crypto community.
During the market crash, Portnoy purchased $1 million worth of XRP (along with Bitcoin and Ethereum). He tweeted, “When there’s blood on the streets, I’m like a great white shark.”
He saw the selloff as an overreaction and an opportunity to recover from July’s failures, so he bought back around $2.14.
Currently, XRP has cooled down from its November levels (trading at around $1.84) and we are considering either lowering the average price or significantly increasing the position size if it reaches $1.75.
