Topline
Hunter Biden’s memecoin, $LAPTOP, surged in value before ultimately crashing just 30 minutes after its launch on Wednesday—meaning the former president’s son’s crypto venture mirrors the fate of other politician and celebrity-endorsed cryptocurrencies.
Hunter Biden’s memecoin initially saw a flurry of interest before crashing to lose most of its value.
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Key Facts
The price for $LAPTOP surged on Wednesday morning, reaching as high as $222 at 8:05 a.m. EDT, but almost immediately crashed, and was worth only $1.79 by 12:20 p.m.
Details about the memecoin were first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Monday, which Biden later called a “symbol of resilience, redemption, and recovery.”
Biden has emerged as a minor media celebrity since his years of notoriety in conservative media, appearing for long interviews with Tucker Carlson and Andrew Callaghan, and more recently has started talking about the tech on social media—repeating pro-crypto talking points occasionally, but also criticizing the Trump family’s crypto ventures.
Other Memecoins Have Crashed In The Past
Hunter Biden’s memecoin fared similarly to other memecoins launched by former politicians. Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams launched $NYC in January, shortly after leaving office. The coin surged in value before dropping 75%. Amid the chaos, an account linked to the team running the memecoin withdrew coins equal to about $2.5 million, leading to accusations of a rug pull—a common scam in the crypto world where investors sink money into an asset before quickly exiting, leading to the value collapsing. Adams denied any wrongdoing, and the account returned about $1.5 million of the money the next day. Melania Trump launched her own memecoin in January 2025, shortly after her husband’s $TRUMP coin, which has now lost most of its value and is trading at only $0.11. Responding to criticism from a conservative commentator on Tuesday night, Biden implied that his would turn out differently: “You just have PTSD from Trump, Melania, Kanye, Lil Pump, and Andrew Tate’s memecoins. All MAGA btw.”
Crucial Quote
“You should not expect me or anyone else to make this token more valuable for you,” Biden wrote in a post on X on Tuesday, hours before the token’s launch. “$LAPTOP isn’t just about owning something, it’s about saying something. Everybody gets knocked down. How do we help each other and our country to get back up?”
Tangent
About 30% of the tokens are owned by Biden and the memecoin’s founders, the Journal reported, which would be destroyed to drive up its value if certain events happen. Biden himself later confirmed this on Tuesday, saying “We publicly say what has to happen in the world. If it happens, the corresponding tokens are permanently burned. If it does not, those tokens are sent to charity.” These events would include Democrats winning the 2028 presidential election—which he recently speculated he might try to run in.
Key Background
Biden’s memecoin was a reference to the Hunter Biden laptop story, the controversy that made him into a villain of conservative media for years during his father’s presidency. The former president’s son pitched his memecoin by criticizing President Donald Trump’s crypto ventures, including his $TRUMP coin, which is currently down 75% for the year. Supporters who bought the president’s family’s memecoins are down about $7 billion, a Forbes analysis from July found. Biden framed his memecoin as a response to Trump’s, insisting 20% of coins would be “airdropped to the community, and I am even including people that lost money on the $TRUMP grift.”
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