Hunter Biden's LAPTOP Team Give Reasons Why The Memecoin Crashed

Hunter Biden's $LAPTOP memecoin had a turbulent debut on the Base blockchain, briefly surging above $300 before collapsing more than 99% within the first hour of trading. The project team has since published an explanation, pointing to sniper bots and a dangerously thin liquidity pool as the primary causes of the crash.

A Chaotic Launch

$LAPTOP had a volatile first hour of trading, briefly reaching a market capitalisation of around $110 billion before crashing more than 99%. The token's price surged above $300 after the airdrop before giving back most of those gains. Blockchain intelligence firm Arkham noted that shortly after the open, the token's fully diluted valuation had reached $144 billion while the liquidity pool backing it held just $48,000.

The pool opened at $0.05 per token. Demand then overwhelmed the market maker's starting liquidity, according to the foundation. Predatory sniper bots, automated programs that hunt cheap tokens in fresh pools, amplified the swing. Prices spiked and then cratered within minutes.

The LAPTOP team pushed back against suggestions that insiders had an advantage, saying there was no presale and no allocations for investors, influencers, or key opinion leaders. The contract address, token allocation, security audit, and other disclosures were published before trading began. The team published its response on Medium early Thursday, after X suspended the project's official account.

Heavy Losses for Retail Traders

Blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps called the launch a "bloodbath," pointing out that about 80% of $LAPTOP traders lost money, including two who lost between $100,000 and $1 million, about 100 who lost between $10,000 and $100,000, and about 700 who lost between $1,000 and $10,000.

The top-earning sniper bot at launch made around $335,000, while one retail buyer turned $200,000 into roughly $3,000. The episode illustrates how thin opening liquidity can be exploited in high-profile token launches, leaving ordinary traders exposed to rapid, severe losses.

Looking ahead, the foundation said it began sending 4 million tokens, or 0.4% of supply, into the Aerodrome pool as liquidity incentives from September 10, and that two prediction events would settle as "YES," with 10 million tokens, or 1% of supply, scheduled to burn in the first week.

Sources:
The Block: Hunter Biden's LAPTOP team cites sniper bots, thin liquidity for 99% crash
CoinDesk: Hunter Biden's LAPTOP blames bots after 98% crash
BeInCrypto: Hunter Biden Denies LAPTOP Scam Claims After 99% Meme Coin Crash