Hunter Biden is part of the founding team behind a new meme coin called LAPTOP, which is set to go live on the Coinbase-built Base network on Sept. 9 with a total supply of one billion tokens. Base is Coinbase's Ethereum layer-2 network, and launching there places the token alongside a growing roster of meme coins on the chain. A portion of that supply is reportedly reserved for traders who lost money on President Donald Trump's TRUMP coin, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Cashing in on TRUMP losses

The LAPTOP team, which includes Hunter Biden, has pledged that 20% of the one-billion-token supply is earmarked for two airdrop rounds. The name LAPTOP references the laptop saga that dogged Biden throughout the 2020 campaign, in which the contents of a laptop he reportedly left at a repair shop became a recurring political controversy.

Eligibility extends beyond individuals who took a loss on TRUMP: Substack subscribers of Biden, his friends, and people on a mailing list kept by video journalist Andrew Callaghan also qualify for the drop.

Nansen data reported by TechCrunch in July found that 988,905 wallets — roughly two in three TRUMP buyers — were down a combined $3.81 billion by the end of June. TRUMP debuted three days before Trump's January 2025 inauguration, spiked toward $75, and then crashed rapidly. The president disclosed $636 million tied to the coin and at least $1.4 billion in crypto income for 2025.

Beyond the 20% allocated for airdrops, the founding team takes 30% of the supply, which will be held for six months and then released gradually over a two-year period. Another 20% has been set aside for charity, liquidity, exchange partners, and market makers, with part of it covering the accounting, legal, and compliance costs of running the token foundation.

A conditional token-burning mechanism

The LAPTOP plan contains an unusual provision allowing up to 30% of its supply to be permanently destroyed. This burning feature depends on 30 preset events, each with its own deadline. Triggers include Bitcoin printing a fresh all-time high, LAPTOP's fully diluted valuation climbing past TRUMP's, and a Democratic win in the 2028 presidential election. Tokens tied to conditions that never occur will be donated to charity rather than burned.

Political meme coins have recorded sharp price swings following Trump-family announcements. TRUMP, for instance, lost about 55% of its value within minutes of the MELANIA token announcement in January 2025.

Before the launch of LAPTOP, Biden spent months speaking publicly about crypto. On a revived X account, he called fiat "a sham" and the banking class "corrupt," writing that "decentralized digital currency and the blockchain are the inevitable future." In an interview with Candace Owens, he said he believed in "the meme token" and would "create a community" one day.

Meanwhile, the advocacy group Public Citizen estimated in late August that investors have lost at least $4.7 billion across five Trump ventures. That figure includes $3.2 billion in losses on TRUMP and about $1 billion in losses tied to World Liberty Financial.

Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Richard Blumenthal wrote to SEC Chair Paul Atkins on Aug. 4, urging an investigation into whether TRUMP "facilitated any illegal fraud or unjust enrichment." Their letter reflects broader scrutiny in Washington of political figures launching tokens, a category that regulators and lawmakers have flagged for its potential conflicts of interest and investor-protection risks. Meme coins generally carry no intrinsic value or revenue rights, and their prices are driven largely by social sentiment, which has historically produced steep losses for late buyers — a pattern the TRUMP losses illustrate.