Former President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden is launching a new meme coin called “$LAPTOP," The Wall Street Journal first reported Sept. 8 and the younger Biden confirmed in a social media post.
The new product, a type of cryptocurrency, which appears to parody Hunter Biden's controversial laptop, is expected to launch Sept. 9, according to a teaser shared on social media.
The teaser shared by Hunter Biden consists of a montage of news anchors discussing the infamous laptop with the last clip featuring President Donald Trump saying: "This laptop. I tell you what. This is called the laptop from hell."
Hunter Biden said in a Sept. 8 social media post that: "They turned laptop into a weapon. I turned it into a token."
The post says that 30% of the
coins are tied to an unnamed event. If the event happens, the coins are "burned," and if it does not happen, the coins are donated to charity. An additional 50 million coins are to go to charity, Hunter Biden said.
He stated that owners of $TRUMP, a meme coin tied to Trump, have "collectively lost ~$3.8B," and that 20% of the “$LAPTOP" coins will be "airdropped to the community," including those who lost money on the Trump coin, which he called a "grift."
"You should not expect me or anyone else to make this token more valuable for you," Hunter Biden warned. "$LAPTOP isn’t just about owning something, it’s about saying something."
Neither Hunter Biden, 56, nor his reps responded to USA TODAY's request for more information on the product.
WSJ reported $LAPTOP will launch on crypto exchange Base with one billion tokens. Founders, including Hunter Biden, will be allocated 30% of those tokens, while 20% will be sent in two rounds to Hunter Biden's Substack subscribers, people who bought and lost money on Trump's meme coin and to a mailing list run by his friend and journalist Andrew Callaghan. The founders' tokens will be locked for six months and are expected to vest for over two years.
Callaghan, however, refuted the claim, saying that he and his Channel 5 YouTube channel “have nothing to do with Hunter Biden’s crypto coin” and “have not, do not and never will advertise crypto.”
"Hunter asked if he could use our mailing list whenever he launched a new product,” Callaghan and Channel 5's statement said. "We provided him a simple csv sheet from our email list to help him expand his audience."
Callaghan and Channel 5 added they “do not believe crypto is a legitimate investment,” though they "wish Hunter the best, shout out to the homie.”
In a follow-up post, Channel 5 said it was able to have their list of subscribers deleted before any emails were sent. USA TODAY has reached out to Callaghan for further comment.
Hunter Biden calls cryptocurrency 'Hyperliquid'
Several politicians and high-profile individuals, from Trump and first lady Melania Trump to former New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Caitlyn Jenner, have launched meme coins recently. However, WSJ noted, they are not particularly valuable and can be volatile, spiking upon launch before quickly dropping. Trump’s meme coin has lost nearly all of its value, going from a high of $74.34 in January 2025 to a current value of $2.27, according to Forbes.
Hunter Biden, however, has recently been vocal in his support for cryptocurrency, referring to it as "Hyperliquid"on social media. In a June 5 post on X, he said “Decentralized digital currency and the blockchain are the inevitable future.”
Hunter Biden's laptop controversy
Hunter Biden's laptop became the center of controversy after House Republicans used its contents in their investigation of his father's overseas business deals.
The laptop's contents, including foreign business emails and texts, were widely distributed in the lead up to the 2020 election after Hunter Biden failed to retrieve it from a computer repair shop. The shop owner, John Paul Mac Isaac, gave it to the FBI and Rudy Giuliani, Trump's campaign lawyer. Giuliani allegedly spent months going through the contents before distributing material to reporters and Republicans.
Pictures and text messages from Hunter Biden’s electronic devices were used to help convict him of federal gun charges June 11, suggesting he lied on a form about being addicted to drugs. Pictures showed apparent drugs and text messages that referred to waiting for a dealer and to using drugs. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, even brought poster boards of nude pictures of Hunter Biden to one hearing.
The former president's son has alleged Giuliani tampered with the laptop and unlawfully distributed its contents. Hunter Biden sued the former New York City mayor and his lawyer for allegedly copying, manipulating and distributing the records in a “total annihilation” of his privacy. He later withdrew the lawsuit after lawyers jointly agreed to drop the case.
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@usatodayco.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hunter Biden is launching a new meme coin called '$LAPTOP'
