In this post:

• Dave Portnoy pumped the meme coin Jailstool on February 8, causing its market cap to explode by 100,000% overnight.

• His tweets and X Space discussions sent traders into a frenzy, while critics accused him of running a pump-and-dump scheme.

• Dave warned followers he might sell, but a whale investor pumped $7-8 million into Jailstool,

Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, promoted a new meme coin called Jailstool yesterday, making its market cap surge by 119,000% in less than five hours, with its price up by 2.6 million percent in the past twenty-four hours. The token instantly became popular after Dave tweeted and held a late-night X Space with his 3.5 million followers.

But the chaos actually began earlier on Friday when Dave traded “Montoya por favor,” a coin inspired by a contestant from the Spanish reality show La Isla De Las Tentaciones. “Uh oh. Davey learned how to trade shitcoin and is already up a billion percent on my 1st one!!!!!!” he tweeted.

The coin surged to a $14 million market cap before plummeting to $1 million. Dave didn’t stop there. “I think I can make a million… on Josh Allen MVP coin,” he tweeted later that day, referring to a meme coin themed after Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.

I lost 1 million dollars on the Bill Super Bowl. I think I can make a million back on Josh Allen MVP coin. Buy at your own risk. I just bought it. I’m gonna sell it. Don’t buy what ya can’t lose. pic.twitter.com/PTNVdjo3Ow

— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) February 7, 2025

But he did warn his followers, “Buy at your own risk. I just bought it. I’m gonna sell it. Don’t buy what ya can’t lose.” The coin temporarily reached a $12 million market cap before tanking to $58,000.

Crypto traders accuse Dave of manipulation

The sudden crashes triggered accusations that Dave was manipulating his audience to profit from the pump-and-dump cycle. Critics claimed he was dumping tokens after causing their value to rise.

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Dave responded in a video where he said, “I turned like 10 grand total into like 75 grand… I don’t even know what I’m doing with my life. Do you go to jail for this? Can I not do this?”

Despite the backlash, Dave still went all in with Jailstool. “I may dump it eventually, but I’ll let all you righteous losers dump on each other first,” he told his followers. In the X Space, he added that Jailstool wasn’t a long-term investment, calling it a coin to “watch and see how it goes.”

Dave’s tweets throughout the night added fuel to the hype. One of his posts read, “Here is the deal. If we get #jailstool to #1 trend on Twitter by the next 20 minutes, I’ll stay up. If not, I’m going to bed.” Traders scrambled to push the hashtag, flooding social media with Jailstool content, and got him what he asked for in less than 20 minutes.

Dave joked about his dedication, saying, “I was invited to SI Party, GQ party, 11 party, etc. and there is no place I’d rather be than laying in bed in the dark right now pumping Jailstool.”

In another tweet, Dave shared that a large investor had bought between $7 and $8 million worth of Jailstool. “That’s fucking nuts,” he wrote. “They are now the largest coinholder. Welcome?! Is this good? Hopefully, he is a good whale like Willy and not a dickhead whale.”

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Dave Portnoy continues to hold Jailstool

Despite his excitement, Dave’s exhaustion began to show. “When do you sleep though? Like I know I keep asking, but I do need to sleep at some point. I have a weak immune system. My only weakness really. Like Samson with his hair,” he tweeted during the all-night session.

As the hype continued to grow, Dave urged followers not to panic sell. “Crazy thing about #jailstool is up till 48 hours ago, I wouldn’t have even known a coin like this existed at this point,” he said. “So in my mind, we’re still early. I get that everybody has to do what’s right for them, but I feel like if we hold tight until big money can flow in, we all win.”

By early Sunday morning, Dave posted that he had been talking about Jailstool for four straight hours. “I have no plans on selling anytime soon,” he wrote. “I’m waiting for a 500 milly market cap before even thinking about it. But I need my sleep. Goodnight everybody. Sweet dreams, Cyber Rome.”

The day is still not over yet. Dave had an early flight and Super Bowl events lined up, but he assured his audience, “This isn’t a short play. I’m not going anywhere. 500 million market cap or bust.”