Hunter Biden's "laptop" memein plunged 98% within minutes of launch

Hunter Biden's new LAPTOP token plunged 98% at opening

Shortly after trading began on Wednesday, Hunter Biden's new LAPTOP memecoin experienced an unusually sharp collapse. Due to extreme fluctuations caused by thin liquidity, the token price fell by approximately 98% from the original offer.

LAPTOKEN was released on September 9 on Base Network, the Ethereum Layer 2 network incubated by Coinbase. Biden described the token as a way to "recapture" the laptop controversy that has plagued him for years and positioned the project as centered around "resilience, redemption and recovery."

However, the initial market response has been extremely unstable. According to reports, LAPTOP opened at close to $200, but plunged to about $4.36 in the first hour, a drop of about 97.8%. Quotes at the opening had hinted at huge valuations, but due to the lack of deep liquidity, the figure was extremely misleading.

LAPTOP's US$200 billion opening valuation is not an appearance

According to the token economics information released by the project, LAPTOP's total supply is 1 billion coins. The project party stated that 35% of the tokens will be unlocked when they are generated, and the rest will be gradually released over 36 months.

When the offer price approaches $200, multiply it by the entire supply of 1 billion tokens, and the theoretical fully diluted valuation (FDV) is close to $200 billion. After LAPTOP fell to the $4 to $5 range, the figure fell to about $4 billion to $5 billion.

To be clear, neither of these numbers should be misinterpreted as the amount of money actually invested in the token. Compared with these theoretical valuations, actual reported liquidity is negligible. Chain observers pointed out that during the early trading period, USDC liquidity in the official Aerodrome pool was only approximately US$83,000, and USDC liquidity in the Uniswap pool was approximately US$380,000.

This is crucial. In cases of shallow liquidity, relatively small transactions can significantly move the quote price of a token. As a result, a few deals closed for $200 can produce eye-catching theoretical valuations, when in fact no closer to $200 billion has entered the market. The same principle of caution applies to the token's multi-billion-dollar FDV after the crash.

Wintermute gets 2.5 million LAPTOP tokens

Another layer of dynamics surfaced during the chaotic issuance process. According to Chain Observer, market maker Wintermute received 2.5 million LAPTOP tokens from a multi-signature address associated with the project. The transfer appears to be related to market market-making activities rather than allocation by ordinary investors.

Reports based on on-chain surveillance also confirmed that GSR Markets received 15.5 million LAPTOP and G20 received 5 million, which may bring the total market market-making allocation to 23 million tokens, accounting for 2.3% of total supply.

Any suggestion that Wintermute is "selling" tokens should be viewed with caution. An on-chain transfer to an exchange or a sale made by a market maker does not necessarily represent a bearish directional bet on the asset. Market makers typically buy and sell inventory across multiple venues to provide liquidity and manage risk exposure.

A circulating on-chain analysis claims that Wintermute sold 466,255 LAPTOP units at an average price of approximately US$4.47, with total revenue of approximately US$2.08 million. If the data is accurate, this activity accounts for less than one-fifth of the 2.5 million token allocations it receives. Without more complete information about Wintermute's and LAPTOP project arrangements, its hedging strategies and other venue activities, these sales alone do not prove that Wintermute is withdrawing all of its positions.

LAPTOKEN aims to reward losers in TRUMP tokens.

One of LAPTOKEN's most unusual features is its connection to Donald Trump's TRUMP memecoin. Biden has publicly criticized TRUMP tokens and said part of LAPTOKEN's supply will be distributed to people who lose money trading president-related tokens.

Depending on the project structure, 20% of the total supply of LAPTOKEN 1 billion pieces is reserved for community airdrops, including eligible TRUMP holders and Biden Substack subscribers. Another 30% is allocated to founders and needs to meet lock-in and ownership conditions, and another 30% is associated with prediction mechanisms.

Therefore, the project is not intended to literally compensate each TRUMP holder for losses on a one-to-one basis. Instead, selected eligible wallets will receive LAPTOKEN tokens. Biden himself warned buyers before the sale not to assume that he or other participants in the project would add value to the token. The warning became particularly relevant shortly after the transaction began.