It was never really a question of whether Hunter Biden’s memecoin would generate controversy. The son of former president Joe Bidendesigned it to rile some parties up. But he likely wasn’t counting on this sort of situation.
The $LAPTOP token began trading Wednesday — and things looked good at first, with the market cap rocketing to $110 billion. Turns out that was much too good to be true. By the end of the first hour of trading, the token had crashed, losing 99% of its value. As of Thursday morning, the crypto’s market cap was set at $264 million.
That set off familiar criticisms for memecoins that rapidly gain a lot of wealth at launch, then quickly lose value, such as “rug pull,” but Biden said that’s not the case.
“The reality is that available liquidity could not sustain the strong level of interest at launch,” hewrote in a social media post after the token’s rise and fall. “Technical issues coupled with predatory ‘snipers’, who seek to beat liquidity providers to market, caused a spike in price, which has since stabilized to healthy levels. (…) This journey is far from over. We built this community for the long game, and that’s exactly how we’re playing it.”
A rapid rise
$LAPTOP prices jumped from $3 toover $300 in seconds when trading began. Moments later, it fell back to its original level and kept tumbling. Thursday morning, the crypto was selling forroughly 73 cents per token — far from its high, but still higher than the 5-cent launch price. (That price, Biden says, made the token a target for “predatory sniper bots.”)
Biden, in a post on Medium, said the team behind the coin has taken steps to improve liquidity.
“We are continuing our work to ensure that available liquidity better meets trading demand moving forward. In support of this, 4,000,000 tokens (0.40% of the total supply) are being deployed to incentivize liquidity,” he wrote.
In addition, two of the qualifying events that determine the fate of 30% of the total number of coins were triggered Wednesday. That means 10 million $LAPTOP tokens will be permanently destroyed, which founders anticipate will increase the value of the remaining coins.
Biden strongly pushed back to allegations of fraud or chicanery with the launch of $LAPTOP, saying all investors had access to the same information and there was no hidden supply or surprises that benefited insiders. Nor, he said, was there any sort of token presale.
“Nobody bought LAPTOP before you could,” the Medium post read.
The founders also repeated Biden’s quotefrom when he introduced the token: “You should not expect me or anyone else to make this token more valuable for you. $LAPTOP isn’t just about owning something, it’s about saying something. Everybody gets knocked down. How do we help each other and our country to get back up?”
Chris Morris is a veteran journalist with more than 35 years of experience at many of the internet's biggest news outlets. In addition to his activities as a writer, reporter and editor, Chris is also a frequent panel moderator and speaker at major conferences, including CES and South by Southwest.
The content provided on Moneywise is information to help users become financially literate. It is neither investment, tax nor legal advice, is not intended to be relied upon as a forecast, research or investment advice, and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities, enter into any loan, mortgage or insurance agreements or to adopt any investment strategy. Tax, investment and all other decisions should be made, as appropriate, only with guidance from a qualified professional. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, either express or implied, with respect to the data provided, the timeliness thereof, the results to be obtained by the use thereof or any other matter. Advertisers are not responsible for the content of this site, including any editorials or reviews that may appear on this site. For complete and current information on any advertiser product, please visit their website.
†Terms and Conditions apply.
You’re in.
Welcome to Moneywise! Keep an eye on your inbox for your first newsletter, free Warren Buffett investing guide, and full commenting access. Welcome to Moneywise! Keep an eye on your inbox for your first newsletter, free Warren Buffett investing guide, and full commenting access.
Our free newsletter helps you grow what you've earned.
Join 250,000+ investors getting smarter every week with our free newsletter. Plus get a Warren Buffett investing guide and the ability to comment on articles.
