Dave Portnoy, the founder of the Barstool Sports sports media platform, launched a charitable fund to support small businesses in the United States amid the coronavirus pandemic. In just a few days he attracted more than $1 million from cryptocurrency supporters.
Portnoy announced the launch of The Barstool Fund on December 17, but until December 24 donations could be made only in fiat.
Introducing The Barstool Fund
If you are a small business that needs help staying in business because of covid email us your story to barstoolfund@barstoolsports.com. We will try to help as many people as we can. pic.twitter.com/9BS8HeyHaq
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) December 17, 2020
Portnoy has been actively promoting the initiative on Twitter, one of the most popular platforms for communicating with cryptocurrency fans.
On the eve of Christmas, the fund began accepting Bitcoin, and in just a few days donations from the Bitcoin community, including fiat transfers, surpassed $1 million. Among those supporting the initiative were Gemini founders the Winklevoss brothers and Morgan Creek partner Anthony Pompliano.
On December 25 Portnoy said that of the $750,000 donated by cryptocurrency supporters up to that point, $100,000 had come in Bitcoin.
Just to clarify we got 100k in crypto total. 5.4 million in US dollars. Crypto is at all time high. You had us create a way for #Bitcoin people to donate crypto. Enough talk. Time for Bitcoiners to show up. #barstoolfund https://t.co/Lff42RnR8M
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) December 25, 2020
He also urged the Bitcoin community to support the initiative more actively, and his words were heeded. In the following 36 hours the amount of cryptocurrency donations surpassed $500,000, Decrypt reported, citing Alex Wilson, co-founder of The Giving Block, which provides technical support for the platform.
“This is a wonderful initiative, and finding the best occasion for charity is very hard. The whole country relies on small businesses; they are trying to preserve the American dream. But at a time when they needed support most, politicians abandoned them,” said Anthony Pompliano.
The fund has raised more than $7.1 million since its launch, providing financial assistance to many companies on the brink of bankruptcy nationwide, including restaurants, laundry services, beauty salons, and more, via the Barstool Fund.
Mac’s Tenders is next pic.twitter.com/NvdFZPeeN2
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) December 26, 2020
Earlier this year, Dave Portnoy invested in Bitcoin and several altcoins by more than $1 million, but he incurred losses from a market downturn and excluded cryptocurrencies from his portfolio.
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