Hunter Biden Issues Token, Crypto Community Isn't Buying It: How Long Can the Celebrity Meme Coin Wealth Game Continue?

Short-term pumps are almost guaranteed, but a long-term drop to zero is actually the more common fate for this type of token.

Author: Jose Antonio Lanz (Decrypt)

Translated by: TechFlow

TechFlow Summary: On Monday, Hunter Biden posted the ticker for the LAPTOP coin on X, accompanied by a 31-second Fox News video, just minutes after The Wall Street Journal published its report on the launch of this meme coin. LAPTOP is scheduled to go live on Base on September 9. Unlike the hype surrounding past celebrity coin launches, the crypto community's response was swift and cold: largely mocking, with many calling him a hypocrite, especially since he recently criticized Trump's coin issuance as a "scam."

The root of the community's frustration stems from traders having grown weary of being fleeced by the Trump family and "celebrity meme coins," as the tokens for Trump and Melania have both lost over 90% of their market capitalization since launching in 2025.

In the short term, political and celebrity tokens can always attract a first wave of buyers; but the second wave, which determines whether it becomes a "headline" or a "joke," mostly ends in a crash. As Mark Cuban told Decrypt: Every meme coin is a "pending rug pull," and the fun and risk lie in guessing when it will happen.