Crypto Exchange Kraken Paid Dave Portnoy Bitcoin in Sponsorship Deal

Dave Portnoy isn’t buying bitcoin {{BTC}} at these prices. Does he accept it as payment? That’s another story.

The Barstool Sports chief received a “large portion” of his sponsorship deal with cryptocurrency exchange Kraken in BTC, Portnoy told CoinDesk. Kraken paid him directly in cryptocurrency and dollars, the duo said. Neither party wanted to discuss how much money changed hands.

Wearing his “day trader” hat, Portnoy has been trying to time trades in the bitcoin market since mid-2020, often getting burned by buying high and selling low. Its current price of over $60,000 is too high for him. “I would hate myself. If I bought right now — a ton — and it went down, there would be something wrong with my brain.”

Still, Portnoy said he was “always” ready to accept bitcoin as payment: “I believe in it that much.” He did so when Kraken began sponsoring the “Davey Day Trader Global” (DDTG) livestream in February.

Despite initially being billed as peer-to-peer electronic cash, bitcoin is rarely treated as a form of money. Rarely do famous athletes sign a “bitcoin-paid” endorsement deal. These usually involve converting cash checks into crypto rather than getting paid in bitcoin, as Kraken did for Portnoy.

Bitcoin, on the other hand, attracts day traders like Portnoy who consider it a “good investment.”

The pizza critic is betting that it will “blow up” if, as Portnoy believes, pro-bitcoin Republican Donald Trump wins the US presidential election in November. But Portnoy warns: “I’m always wrong.”

Read more: ‘It’s a Bitcoin Game’: Mark Cuban Says Silicon Valley’s Embrace of Trump Revolves Around Crypto

FIX (July 18, 2024, 16:23 UTC): Corrects misspelling of Dave Portnoy’s last name in the second paragraph.