The newly introduced LAPTOP memecoin by Hunter Biden experienced a chaotic initial hour of trading on Wednesday, temporarily hitting a market cap near $110 billion before plunging by over 99%.
Built on the Base network, the asset commenced trading shortly following 8 a.m. ET and rapidly surged past $300 per token according to metrics from DexScreener, prior to shedding almost all of those profits within a very short timeframe.
Certain primary gainers from the spike did not even need to purchase the cryptocurrency. Under the planned tokenomics for LAPTOP, 10 percent of the 1 billion total supply was designated for an introductory community airdrop. Biden explicitly noted that individuals with subscriptions to his Substack prior to September 6 would qualify to get complimentary tokens.
On-chain records indicate that Substack users were able to claim 4,276 tokens of LAPTOP each. At the approximate $300 highest point, this meant every single distribution held a notional worth of close to $1.3 million.
Nevertheless, cashing out anything close to that figure would have proved extremely difficult due to limited market depth and the brief duration of the high. Still, even long after the market drop, at a valuation near $2, participants could easily convert their share into roughly $8,000.
Recent blockchain data provided by Bubblemaps additionally asserts that greater than 80 percent of addresses that acquired the token suffered losses post-launch, affecting upwards of 11,500 purchasing wallets. Furthermore, Bubblemaps discovered that several of the principal owners of LAPTOP possessed minimal to zero past on-chain activity. Around 60 percent of the leading holders consisted of newly created addresses funded inside the preceding 10 days, with the majority obtaining their starting capital on Wednesday, according to the organization.
‘Giving back’
This rollout follows Biden promoting LAPTOP as a memecoin centered on endurance, redemption, and recovery, as well as a method to support his followers.
He additionally slammed the trend of political memecoins that emerged over the previous couple of years, mocking President Donald Trump’s digital coin while setting aside 2 percent of the overall LAPTOP supply for speculators who suffered financial losses on TRUMP.
Thirty percent of the inventory belongs to creators, featuring Biden, though those coins remain restricted for half a year and distribute gradually across 24 months. An additional 30 percent connects to a group of practical forecasts, where tokens undergo either burning or charitable contributions contingent on the final results.
Originally published at https://www.theblock.co/news/markets/2026-09-09-hunter-biden-laptop-airdrops-briefly-worth-over-1-million-each-before-99-crash-414034.
