No Matter How Absurd, Dave Portnoy’s Meme Coins Just Keep Working

The meme coin ecosystem as highlighted through Dave Portnoy's activities represents a significant risk to retail investors. 1. WHO was/is affected? Primarily retail investors and followers of high-profile influencers who jump into meme coin investments based on social media promotion rather than fundamentals. Particularly vulnerable are those who enter these investments late in the pump cycle. 2. WHAT happened? Dave Portnoy, a prominent media personality with millions of followers, has been creating, promoting, and quickly selling meme coins, resulting in massive volatility. Projects like GREED surged to a $41.5 million market cap before crashing 99% after Portnoy sold his position. He then repeated the cycle with GREED2 and other tokens. 3. HOW it happened, and how can viewers prevent themselves from getting scammed? Portnoy leveraged his large social media following (3.5M followers) to create instant demand for newly launched tokens with no underlying value. To avoid similar scams, viewers should: never invest based solely on influencer promotion; research token fundamentals; avoid FOMO-driven decisions; be wary of newly launched tokens without clear utility; and never invest more than they can afford to lose. 4. WHY this happened? This behavior is driven by the ease of token creation on platforms like Pump.fun, coupled with the allure of quick profits. The market environment rewards hype and speculation over substance, creating ideal conditions for pump-and-dump schemes. Greed motivates both promoters and investors who hope to exit before the inevitable crash. 5. WHERE are people affected? The impact is global, as anyone with access to cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets can participate in these high-risk meme coin investments. The Solana blockchain in particular has become a hotbed for meme coin launches due to low transaction fees and platforms like Pump.fun that simplify token creation. The regulatory landscape remains uncertain, with rumors of SEC interest but no confirmed enforcement actions yet. The creation of a new SEC cybercrime unit focused on crypto fraud suggests authorities are increasingly concerned about these practices.