Hunter Biden has accused the crypto industry of being "hostage to Donald Trump," even as he defends his own Laptop Token memecoin launch. During an interview with The Wolf Of All Streets podcast, Biden explained that he created the token as an alternative to what he described as the "pure max extraction" model associated with Trump-linked crypto projects. Only 10% of Laptop Token’s supply went to Biden personally, with another 20% split between two partners, a structure he contrasted with the roughly 80% insider allocations he attributes to Trump-affiliated tokens.
The token’s design includes a prediction market tied to real-world outcomes and a charitable pool representing at least 5% of its total value over two years. Biden said the project aimed to reclaim the narrative around "Hunter Biden’s laptop," which he estimated generated over $9 billion in media attention. However, the launch faced challenges when Coinbase withdrew from a planned listing due to social media backlash, leaving the token to debut on decentralized exchanges with insufficient liquidity.
Biden claimed that one of the two market makers hired for the launch provided only $5,000 and about 29,000 tokens, which he said was inadequate. This led to a brief surge in the token’s price, pushing its fully diluted valuation to $317 billion within two minutes before it crashed. Biden dismissed the valuation as "total fiction," noting that retail investors lost less than $3 million during the volatility, roughly the same amount he alleged the market makers earned.
Biden also blamed politics for the failure of the Clarity Act in Congress, arguing that Trump’s crypto dealings, including a memecoin launch before his second inauguration and the family’s involvement in World Liberty Financial (CRYPTO: WLFI), hindered broader crypto legislation. He criticized Democratic skepticism of crypto, asserting that the industry aligns with progressive values like financial inclusion. Biden hopes Laptop Token’s value will eventually rise from its current roughly 8 cents to 10 cents, funding charitable work related to addiction recovery.