Former first son Hunter Biden launched a new meme coin named ($LAPTOP) on the Base blockchain, drawing inspiration from the personal computer that became the subject of political controversy during his father’s presidency, according to The Wall Street Journal. Biden stated that the symbol used to target him is now intended to represent resilience, redemption, and recovery, as reported by Fox Business.
Hunter Biden Launches $LAPTOP Meme Coin Amid High Volatility
The token’s debut experienced extreme market fluctuations immediately after trading opened. According to Business Insider, the asset initially surged from a starting price of $37 to a peak of nearly $225 before dropping sharply to about $2 by midday, ultimately falling roughly 98% down to about $0.60 by Thursday. Other tracking reports, such as data from Cryptopolitan and Yahoo Finance, similarly documented a 95% to 98% collapse within the first day of trading following an initial price spike.
Blaming Predatory Sniper Bots and Market Maker Liquidity Issues
Following the steep market downturn, the project team published a response on Medium rejecting scam accusations and pointing to technical factors behind the price crash, according to Yahoo Finance. Hunter Biden blamed an initial f–k up
in a video posted on X, stating that the market maker only supplied $5,000 of liquidity when demand was extremely high, as detailed by Fox Business.
The foundation further explained that predatory sniper bots—automated programs that target cheap tokens in newly created pools—amplified the market swing and caused prices to spike and crater within minutes, per Yahoo Finance. Despite the volatility, the team insisted that no presale tokens were issued, no allocations were given to influencers, and founders are subject to a six-month lockup and a two-year vest at Coinbase Custody, as noted by Yahoo Finance and Business Insider.
Investor Losses and Onchain Analytics
Data from onchain analytics firm Bubblemaps quantified the damage from the token’s collapse, revealing that roughly 80% of $LAPTOP traders finished underwater, according to Yahoo Finance. The analytics firm noted that two wallets lost between $100,000 and $1 million, 100 lost more than $10,000, 700 lost more than $1,000, and about 11,000 took smaller financial hits.
Conversely, a few early traders secured substantial short-term gains during the initial price spikes. One mystery trader turned a roughly $250,000 bet into $1.18 million within minutes, earning about $930,000 before transaction costs, according to Fox Business. Meanwhile, other wallets recorded heavy deficits, with one buyer tracked by Lookonchain turning $200,000 into $3,000 after entering near the peak, per Cryptopolitan.
Regulatory Landscape and Remediation Plans
Investors seeking regulatory intervention will find that meme tokens fall outside federal securities protections under a February 2025 SEC staff statement issued by the Division of Corporation Finance, which ruled that meme tokens do not meet the Howey test’s profit-from-others requirement, as reported by Cryptopolitan. The guidance states that neither purchasers nor holders are covered under federal securities laws, creating a regulatory environment that applies similarly to other political meme tokens.
To help stabilize the project moving forward, the foundation announced plans to send 4 million tokens into Aerodrome pools and burn 10 million tokens to reduce supply by 1% following the resolution of prediction events, including a public reference by digital artist Beeple, according to Yahoo Finance and Cryptopolitan. Hunter Biden acknowledged that while the situation stabilized, damage had already been done, and stated his intention to stick with the project and repair the damage, per Fox Business.
