The son of former US President Joe Biden is preparing to launch the LAPTOP memecoin on September 9, 2026, on Base, Coinbase’s Layer 2 network. The initiative, which seeks to monetize the infamous laptop’s notoriety, inherits ultra-concentrated tokenomics and has triggered near-universal backlash from the crypto industry.
🔑 Key takeaways
- LAPTOP memecoin launch scheduled for September 9, 2026 on Base (Ethereum L2)
- Total supply of 1 billion tokens, 30% allocated to founders with a 6-month vesting cliff
- 80% of supply concentrated in a single Gnosis Safe multisig wallet
- Coinbase, Base, and Kraken publicly distance themselves from the project
- 20% airdrop, first targeting wallets that lost money on the TRUMP memecoin
Origins of the LAPTOP memecoin and tokenomics structure
The Wall Street Journal first reported the news on September 7, 2026, subsequently confirmed by Hunter Biden himself on X with the ticker $LAPTOP and a video compiling media coverage around the famous laptop he had dropped off at a Delaware repair shop in April 2019 and which the FBI had seized five months later. The token will deploy on Base, the Ethereum Layer 2 developed by Coinbase — a network known for low transaction costs and its permissionless stance.
The total supply reaches one billion tokens. The allocation grants 30% to founders — Hunter Biden included — with an initial six-month cliff followed by linear vesting over more than two years. A further 20% will be distributed via airdrops, with the first round explicitly targeting wallets that suffered losses on the TRUMP memecoin launched by Donald Trump shortly before his January 2025 inauguration. Subscribers to Biden’s Substack newsletter as well as a mailing list run by video journalist Andrew Callaghan (Channel 5) are also among the eligible recipients. The remaining roughly 50% is unspecified in the current smart contract, alongside an announced burn policy of up to 30% tied to political events.
| Category | Allocation | Mechanism |
|---|---|---|
| Founders | 30% | 6-month cliff then 2-year linear vesting |
| Community airdrops | 20% | Includes TRUMP losers, Substack, Channel 5 |
| Unallocated / political burns | 50% | Announced policy, not codified on-chain |
This distribution sharply contrasts with market standards: the concentration across a handful of addresses surpasses levels seen on most memecoins launched via Pump.fun, raising the central question of who effectively governs the project once the token begins trading.
Hostile reactions across the crypto ecosystem
Industry reaction has been overwhelmingly negative. Jordan Fish, known as Cobie, who leads the Base team at Coinbase, clarified that no partnership exists between LAPTOP and Coinbase or Base, emphasizing that « anyone can deploy a token on Base without approval. » Jesse Pollak, founder of Base, confirmed that the LAPTOP team had reached out ahead of the launch but that Base made a « conscious decision » not to participate in either the design or promotion of the token, citing the political complexity of the file and a lack of legitimacy to steer the outcome.
« Base is permissionless and we invite anyone to build on it »
Jesse Pollak, founder of Base
Traders also mobilized on social media. Pseudonymous DeFi developer scupytrooples wrote on X: « Dude, f*** off. It’s still not too late to back out. » Trader DonAlt described the initiative as a « true embarrassment, » noting that Biden had « finally been given a platform » and had used it to launch a memecoin. Pseudonymous investor The Byzantine General simply advised him to « never come back. » Pump.fun’s token feed, however, continued to surface LAPTOP, and imitator tokens bearing the same name were already being traded on the platform during Asian morning hours.
Community pressure was enough to make some firms retreat. Exchange Kraken deleted a promotional post after traders questioned in the comments why a major venue would advertise a politically charged memecoin. Kraken has not publicly confirmed abandoning a listing, but the token’s official site indicates listing announcements will be made « when negotiations with platforms start. »
Technical analysis of the smart contract and on-chain risks
According to data analyzed by CoinNess, around 800 million tokens — or 80% of total supply — sit in a single Gnosis Safe multisig wallet. The top five addresses collectively hold 99.85% of supply, exposing an extreme imbalance in distribution. This structure means a very small number of actors can dictate order-book depth, available liquidity, and ultimately market price.
On the technical side, the smart contract relies on a standard LayerZero architecture with no blacklist function or transfer tax built in. However, the contract owner can extend functionality by defining cross-chain pairs, leaving a residual risk linked to high-level administrative control. The announced policies — founder vesting, political burns up to 30%, 20% airdrops — are not currently implemented in the contract itself; their effective enforcement will depend on additional contract deployments whose verification remains pending.
Political context and family precedents
Hunter Biden’s laptop had generated thousands of memes during the 2020 presidential campaign following the controversial disclosure of emails, financial documents, and personal content related to his drug use. His attorneys had claimed the files had been tampered with. Biden is now attempting to convert that notoriety into a financial asset, capitalizing on the scandal’s viral aura.
