Hunter Biden is preparing to launch a memecoin called LAPTOP on Wednesday, but the crypto traders the project hopes to attract have already responded with strong opposition.
The token will launch on Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 network, with a total supply of 1 billion tokens. Biden and other founders are set to receive 30%, with those tokens locked for six months before being distributed over a period of more than two years.
Another 20% of the supply is earmarked for two airdrops. The first is planned for wallets holding TRUMP at a loss, referring to the memecoin launched by Donald Trump shortly before his 2025 inauguration.
Additional tokens will be distributed to subscribers of Biden’s Substack and to a mailing list operated by video journalist Andrew Callaghan. The Wall Street Journal initially reported the plans, while Biden confirmed the launch on X Monday by revealing the ticker and posting a montage of television news coverage about the laptop he left at a Delaware repair shop in 2019.
The controversy surrounding the project has also prompted Base to emphasize the distinction between hosting the token and endorsing it.
Jordan Fish, widely known as Cobie and head of the Base app team at Coinbase, responded after traders criticized Base over the planned launch. He explained that anyone can create and deploy a token on Base without Coinbase’s approval and said neither Coinbase nor Base has a partnership with LAPTOP.
Base founder Jesse Pollak said the token’s team had contacted the network ahead of its launch. According to Pollak, Base deliberately chose not to participate in the token’s creation or marketing because of the political complications surrounding the project.
“Base is permissionless and we welcome anyone to build on it,” Pollak wrote on X.
What the LAPTOP meme represents
The original laptop controversy dates back to 2019, when Hunter Biden left the device at a Delaware repair shop. Data reportedly extracted from it included emails concerning his overseas business activities as well as private photographs, messages and videos involving drug use and other aspects of his personal life. Much of the material became public and politically contentious during the 2020 U.S. election.
The laptop quickly became a major source of online memes. Several years later, Biden is attempting to turn that notoriety into a financial asset by creating a cryptocurrency based on the meme.
Crypto traders, however, have been unusually blunt in their reaction.
Pseudonymous DeFi developer scupytrooples responded to Biden’s launch announcement with a profane warning that he still had time to cancel the project. Trader DonAlt described the move as deeply embarrassing, arguing that Biden had finally received a platform only to use it for a memecoin. Crypto investor Byzantine General also told Biden not to return to the space.
The criticism spilled over into promotional activity from crypto businesses.
Kraken removed a post promoting LAPTOP after users flooded its replies questioning why one of the industry’s largest exchanges was promoting another politically themed memecoin.
The exchange has not indicated that it has abandoned any potential plans to list LAPTOP. The project’s website says information about exchange listings will be released when trading begins.
Andrew Callaghan also distanced himself from the project, saying that neither he nor his Channel 5 program was involved with the token. This came despite a Channel 5 mailing list being included among the groups eligible for LAPTOP’s proposed airdrop.
Callaghan told the Wall Street Journal that Channel 5 does not regard cryptocurrency as a legitimate investment.
Still, not every company has pulled back from the project. Pump.fun, the token-launch platform, continued promoting LAPTOP on Tuesday, while similarly named copycat tokens were also trading on the platform during Asian morning hours.
The activity indicates that, despite the backlash, traders remain willing to speculate on the attention surrounding the LAPTOP brand.
CoinDesk contacted Coinbase for additional clarification about Base’s relationship with the token and reached out to Kraken regarding its deleted promotional post.
An update on Sept. 8 at 13:34 UTC replaced the article’s lead image with a photograph of Hunter Biden.
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