Crypto traders turn on Hunter Biden’s LAPTOP memecoin before it even launches

Kraken deleted a promotional post after backlash, while a media group named in the token’s distribution publicly distanced itself from the project.

• Hunter Biden plans to launch LAPTOP, a one-billion-token memecoin on Coinbase’s Base network, with founders receiving 30 percent of the supply and another 20 percent allocated to airdrops.
• Wallets that lost money on President Donald Trump’s TRUMP token will be among the first eligible for an airdrop, while Biden’s Substack subscribers and a mailing list associated with journalist Andrew Callaghan will also receive tokens.
• Crypto traders sharply criticized the launch, prompting Kraken to delete a promotional post and Callaghan and a Coinbase Base executive to distance themselves from the project.

Hunter Biden is set to debut a memecoin titled LAPTOP this Wednesday, but the very crypto enthusiasts it aims to attract are advising him to reconsider.

$LAPTOPSeptember 9 pic.twitter.com/QokgWLNxgL

— Hunter Biden (@HunterBiden) September 7, 2026

The token will be deployed on Coinbase’s Base network with a total supply of one billion tokens. Founders, including Biden, are slated to receive 30%, which will be locked for six months and released over a two-year period. An additional 20% is designated for two airdrops; the first recipients will include wallets that incurred losses from the TRUMP memecoin, launched by Donald Trump shortly before his 2025 inauguration.

$LAPTOP

September 9 pic.twitter.com/QokgWLNxgL

Subscribers to Biden’s Substack and a mailing list belonging to journalist Andrew Callaghan are also slated to receive tokens. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on the initiative, which Biden confirmed on X on Monday, featuring the ticker alongside a montage of news clips discussing the laptop left at a Delaware repair shop in 2019.

Information retrieved from that device included emails regarding his international business ventures, as well as private photos, messages, and videos related to drug use and his personal life—much of which became a focal point of controversy during the 2020 election.

While the laptop generated immense meme culture at the time, Biden is now attempting to capitalize on that notoriety by transforming the scandal into a digital token. However, the reaction from the crypto community has been remarkably hostile.

«Dude, f*ck you. Still time to walk this back,» posted the pseudonymous DeFi developer scupytrooples in response to Biden’s announcement. Renowned trader DonAlt described the move as an «utter embarrassment,» noting that Biden had finally found a platform only to use it for a memecoin launch. The investor Byzantine General also weighed in, telling him «never to come back.»

The intense backlash forced several entities to retract their involvement. The exchange Kraken removed a promotional post for the token after users flooded the comments questioning why a major exchange would advertise a political memecoin.

While Kraken has not confirmed whether it will cancel plans to list LAPTOP, the project’s official website indicates that exchange listings will be revealed once trading commences.

Additionally, Andrew Callaghan stated that neither he nor his Channel 5 program is affiliated with the coin, despite his mailing list being listed as an airdrop recipient. Callaghan informed the Wall Street Journal that Channel 5 does not view cryptocurrency as a legitimate investment.

Jordan Fish, also known as Cobie and head of the Base app team at Coinbase, also clarified the situation after traders began blaming the network. He noted that anyone can launch a token on Base without Coinbase’s endorsement and emphasized that there is no formal partnership between LAPTOP and Coinbase or Base.

The TRUMP token briefly reached a market cap of nearly $15 billion following its launch near Trump’s 2025 inauguration, though it currently trades at approximately 97% below its all-time high. Despite industry criticism at its inception, the initial rush of buyers made it one of the most significant memecoin launches in history.

LAPTOP arrives after the market has had nearly two years to observe the volatility of such trades.

However, interest remains among some speculators. The token launchpad Pump.fun was still promoting LAPTOP as of Tuesday, and various imitation tokens were being traded on the platform during Asian morning hours, suggesting that the desire to gamble on the hype persists.

Wednesday will determine if the current negative sentiment holds once actual capital is deployed.

While crypto traders frequently criticize celebrity-driven coins, this instance is unique in that several associated individuals and companies are actively attempting to sever ties before the first trade occurs.

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