Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden, has waded into the cryptocurrency arena with the announcement of a new meme coin, $LAPTOP, a direct nod to the political storm that has surrounded his personal laptop since 2020.
The token, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, is set to launch on Sept. 9 on Base, a crypto exchange platform built by Coinbase. Biden teased the announcement with a video montage featuring news clips and politicians referencing the laptop saga.
Meme coins are notoriously volatile and carry no intrinsic value, often spiking on social media buzz before crashing. The trend has attracted other political figures, including President Trump and first lady Melania Trump, whose own coins surged and then plummeted. This comes as Trump's $1 coins sold out quickly after their U.S. Mint launch, highlighting the public's appetite for political memorabilia.
According to the Journal, the one billion $LAPTOP tokens will be distributed among its founders, including Biden, as well as crypto wallets that lost money on the president's meme coin, subscribers to Biden's Substack, and individuals on a mailing list curated by Andrew Callaghan, a friend of Biden's.
However, Callaghan's company quickly distanced itself from the project, issuing a statement that he has “nothing to do with” $LAPTOP and that Biden is merely using their mailing list to “expand his audience.” The statement added, “As we have told our followers numerous times, we do not believe crypto is a legitimate investment.”
Biden has been ramping up his public profile recently, making appearances on right-wing commentary shows, maintaining an active presence on X, and now venturing into the crypto space. This move comes as media figures who once shielded Biden now question Trump's fitness, adding another layer to the ongoing political narrative.
The launch of $LAPTOP is likely to draw scrutiny from political opponents and regulators alike, given the contentious history of the laptop and the broader debate over cryptocurrency regulation. As Vance launches a manufacturing training initiative, Biden's crypto venture marks a different kind of public engagement, one that blurs the lines between politics, finance, and internet culture.
Whether $LAPTOP will experience the same meteoric rise and fall as other political meme coins remains to be seen, but its debut is sure to be watched closely by both crypto enthusiasts and political observers.
