Hunter Biden’s LAPTOP Memecoin Draws Heavy Criticism From Crypto Traders

Hunter Biden’s LAPTOP memecoin is scheduled to launch Wednesday, but the project has already drawn significant criticism from the crypto traders it hopes will participate in its market.

LAPTOP will be deployed on Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 network, with a total supply of 1 billion tokens. Biden and the other founders are set to receive 30% of the supply. Their allocation will be locked for six months before being released gradually over more than two years.

Another 20% is designated for two airdrops. The first will target wallets holding TRUMP tokens at a loss. TRUMP is the memecoin Donald Trump launched shortly before his 2025 inauguration.

The distribution will also include Biden’s Substack subscribers and people on a mailing list operated by video journalist Andrew Callaghan.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the planned launch. Biden later confirmed the project on X on Monday, revealing its ticker and sharing a montage of news coverage about the laptop he left at a Delaware repair shop in 2019.

The planned token has also led Base to distance itself from any suggestion that hosting LAPTOP represents an endorsement.

Jordan Fish, better known as Cobie and head of Coinbase’s Base app team, responded to criticism aimed at Base after traders began associating the network with the project. He explained that Base allows anyone to deploy a token without Coinbase’s approval and said there is no partnership between LAPTOP and either Base or Coinbase.

Base founder Jesse Pollak said the LAPTOP team had contacted the network before launch. He said Base deliberately chose not to assist with the token’s development or promotion because of the political complications involved.

Pollak reiterated that Base is permissionless and open to anyone who wants to build on it.

The controversy behind LAPTOP

The memecoin takes its name from the Hunter Biden laptop controversy that became a major political story around the 2020 U.S. election.

The laptop, which Biden left at a Delaware repair shop in 2019, was reportedly found to contain emails concerning his overseas business dealings as well as private photos, messages and videos involving drug use and other aspects of his personal life. The material subsequently became the subject of intense political debate.

The episode also generated thousands of memes online. Years later, Biden is attempting to monetize that notoriety through a cryptocurrency, but the initial reaction from crypto traders has been sharply negative.

Pseudonymous DeFi developer scupytrooples urged Biden to abandon the launch while there was still time to do so. Prominent trader DonAlt described the project as an embarrassment, arguing that Biden had finally been given a platform only to use it for a memecoin. Pseudonymous investor Byzantine General also told Biden not to return to the crypto industry.

The criticism eventually affected promotional efforts surrounding the token.

Kraken removed a post promoting LAPTOP after users questioned why the major crypto exchange was advertising another politically themed memecoin.

The exchange has not said whether it has ruled out listing LAPTOP. The project’s website states that exchange listings will be revealed when trading begins.

Andrew Callaghan also denied having any involvement with the token. He said neither he nor his Channel 5 program was connected to LAPTOP, despite a Channel 5 mailing list being included among the groups eligible for the planned airdrop.

Callaghan told the Wall Street Journal that Channel 5 does not consider cryptocurrency a legitimate investment.

Nevertheless, interest in LAPTOP has not disappeared completely. Pump.fun continued promoting the token Tuesday, while copycat tokens carrying the same name were also trading on the platform during Asian morning hours.

The activity indicates that the controversy itself could generate enough attention to attract speculative traders, even as several participants distance themselves from the project.

CoinDesk has contacted Coinbase for further clarification about Base’s relationship with LAPTOP and Kraken regarding its decision to delete the promotional post.

An update published Sept. 8 at 13:34 UTC replaced the original lead image with a photograph of Hunter Biden.