Hunter Biden’s newly launched LAPTOP memecoin suffered an extraordinary collapse shortly after trading began Wednesday, with the token falling roughly 98% from its initial quoted price as thin liquidity produced extreme volatility.
LAPTOP launched September 9 on Base, the Ethereum Layer 2 network incubated by Coinbase. Biden has described the token as a way of reclaiming the laptop controversy that followed him for years, framing the project around “resilience, redemption, and recovery.”
But the market’s first reaction was anything but stable.
LAPTOP reportedly opened near $200 before plunging to around $4.36 within its first hour, a decline of approximately 97.8%. The opening quote briefly implied an enormous valuation, but the lack of deep liquidity makes that number highly misleading.
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LAPTOP’s $200 Billion Opening Valuation Wasn’t What It Seemed
LAPTOP has a total supply of 1 billion tokens, according to the project’s published tokenomics. The project says 35% of that supply is unlocked at token generation, with the remainder becoming available over a 36-month period.
At a quoted price close to $200, multiplying that price by the full 1 billion-token supply produces a theoretical fully diluted valuation approaching $200 billion.
After LAPTOP collapsed toward $4–$5, that figure fell to roughly $4–$5 billion.
THIS IS INSANE
— Ash Crypto (@AshCrypto) September 9, 2026
Hunter Biden's memecoin, $LAPTOP crashed 98% within minutes of its launch.
It was supposed to compensate the $TRUMP losers pic.twitter.com/j7UtLBtc55
Neither number should be confused with the amount of capital actually invested in the token.
The reported liquidity was tiny compared with those theoretical valuations. On-chain observers pointed to only about $83,000 in USDC liquidity in the official Aerodrome pool and roughly $380,000 in USDC in a Uniswap pool around the early trading period.
That matters enormously.
With shallow liquidity, relatively small trades can move a token’s quoted price dramatically. A handful of trades at $200 can therefore create a headline-grabbing theoretical valuation without anything remotely close to $200 billion actually entering the market.
The same caution applies to the token’s multibillion-dollar FDV after the crash.
Wintermute Receives 2.5 Million LAPTOP Tokens
Adding another layer to the chaotic launch, on-chain observers reported that Wintermute received 2.5 million LAPTOP tokens from a project-linked multisig address.
The transfer appears to be related to market-making activity rather than an ordinary investor allocation. Reporting based on on-chain monitoring also identified allocations of 15.5 million LAPTOP to GSR Markets and 5 million to G20, potentially putting the combined market-making allocation at 23 million tokens, or 2.3% of total supply.
Claims that Wintermute is simply “dumping” the tokens need more caution.
Wintermute received 2.5M $LAPTOP from the Laptop Token team and is now dumping it on-chain.
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) September 9, 2026
So far, Wintermute has sold 466,255 $LAPTOP ($2.08M) at an average price of $4.47.https://t.co/Dhh7ZfDOuu pic.twitter.com/At9EgpLVSf
On-chain transfers to exchanges or sales by a market maker do not necessarily represent a directional bet against the asset. Market makers routinely buy and sell inventory across venues to provide liquidity and manage exposure.
One circulating on-chain analysis claims Wintermute sold 466,255 LAPTOP for approximately $2.08 million at an average price near $4.47. If accurate, that activity would account for less than one-fifth of the 2.5 million-token allocation it received.
Without fuller information about Wintermute’s arrangement with the LAPTOP project, its hedges and activity across other venues, those sales alone don’t establish that Wintermute is exiting its entire position.
LAPTOP Was Supposed to Give Something Back to TRUMP Losers
One of the most unusual aspects of LAPTOP is its connection to Donald Trump’s TRUMP memecoin.
Biden has openly criticized TRUMP and said part of LAPTOP’s supply would be distributed to people who lost money trading the president’s token.
According to the project’s structure, 20% of LAPTOP’s 1 billion-token supply is reserved for community airdrops, including eligible TRUMP holders and subscribers to Biden’s Substack. Another 30% goes to founders under lockup and vesting conditions, while 30% is connected to a prediction mechanism.
The idea was therefore not literally to reimburse every TRUMP holder for their losses dollar-for-dollar. Instead, selected qualifying wallets are supposed to receive LAPTOP tokens.
Biden himself warned buyers before launch not to assume he or the project’s other participants would make the token appreciate in value.
That warning became particularly relevant almost immediately after trading opened.
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