The LAPTOP memecoin created by Hunter Biden plummeted by 86.5% during its initial 30 minutes of trading on Wednesday, marking the official entry of the former US President Joe Biden’s son into the sector of politically driven cryptocurrencies.
Based on CoinGecko statistics, the asset—deployed on the Base Ethereum layer-2 network—changed hands at $26.88 around 12:30 pm UTC after launching at an initial price of $199.50. It accumulated a trading volume exceeding $2.5 million.
Addressing public backlash in a Wednesday post on X, Biden stated, “The symbol they used to try to end me is now a symbol of resilience, redemption and recovery.”
Furthermore, Biden acknowledged the skepticism surrounding memecoins, labeled the token associated with President Donald Trump a “grift,” and cautioned purchasers against anticipating that he or anyone else would drive up the value of LAPTOP.
The promotional campaign for the memecoin frames it as an effort to reclaim the “laptop narrative,” which revolves around a MacBook that Biden reportedly left at a repair shop in Delaware back in 2019. Prior to the 2020 presidential election, the New York Post released emails and additional files allegedly retrieved from that computer. Allies of Trump leveraged this documentation against Hunter Biden alongside his father, who was running for president at the time, Joe Biden.
Related: Joe Biden’s son to launch memecoin, will send to TRUMP holders: WSJ
Earlier on Monday, Biden teased the upcoming launch of LAPTOP via X by sharing the token ticker alongside a video compilation featuring media coverage of the computer.
This announcement provoked criticism from figures such as digital investigator Stephen Findeisen, widely known as Coffeezilla, who called LAPTOP a “shitcoin” and advised his audience to avoid purchasing it. Additionally, the X account “scupytrooples” informed Biden that there was “still time to walk this back.”
Jesse Pollak, the founder of Base, revealed in an X update that the project team had reached out to them, though Base made a deliberate choice not to participate in the token’s creation or marketing.
Prior to publication, Biden did not reply to inquiries sent by Cointelegraph.
LAPTOP disclosures set 2% of token supply for TRUMP token losers
Biden’s previous criticisms directed at the Trump family’s cryptocurrency initiatives also provided market participants with immediate arguments regarding hypocrisy.
During an August 21 post, Biden condemned World Liberty Financial for leveraging political connections, centralized oversight, and financial leverage for the advantage of its creators, asserting that the crypto space warranted a higher standard.
He has presently introduced a memecoin centered on his personal political brand, which reserves a portion of the supply for its founders.
Related: California Senate passes bill to ban memecoin issuance by public officials
Documentation for the project disclosures characterizes LAPTOP as a digital collectible devoid of any utility, ownership claims, voting privileges, yield generation, or profit-sharing capabilities. The asset maintains a capped supply totaling 1 billion coins, with 350 million units available in the circulating supply at inception.
Founders—including Biden—are assigned 300 million tokens, translating to 30% of the aggregate supply. These holdings remain locked for a duration of six months before unlocking through monthly vesting across the subsequent 24 months. An additional 30% is tied to political, cultural, and crypto prognostications, meaning tokens will be burned when specific conditions are met or sent to charity if those conditions fail.
The documentation additionally specifies figures for airdrops, where the opening phase constitutes 10% of the overall supply. Out of that amount, 2% is set aside for cryptocurrency wallets that incurred losses on TRUMP, while 8% is designated for qualified subscribers to Biden’s “Where’s Hunter” Substack newsletter.
An extra 10% airdrop is scheduled for subsequent distribution based on the foundation’s discretion. Consequently, a total of 20% is dedicated to airdrops broadly, whereas the allocation reserved specifically for TRUMP-related losses is restricted to 2%.
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Originally published at https://cointelegraph.com/news/hunter-bidens-laptop-memecoin-afterlife?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound.
