Hunter Biden is calling on the market maker behind the troubled launch of the LAPTOP memecoin to buy back and burn the tokens after a report highlighted sharp price swings on its first day of trading.
Biden made the demand Wednesday following a Groom Lake report examining the token’s launch and early trading activity. He said the market maker should “buy it all back and burn it,” putting pressure on the firm to address the fallout.
LAPTOP Launch Faces Scrutiny
The report found that limited liquidity combined with heavy early trading to produce extreme price swings. Changes in available liquidity made those moves even sharper.
Related: AI Tokens Dominate South Korea’s Crypto Trading: What’s Driving It?
A wallet linked to “Market Maker 1” received $500,000 before the launch but used only about 1% of that amount to provide initial liquidity.
The main trading pool held fewer than 30,000 LAPTOP tokens across liquidity providers. As a result, a purchase of just $6 could push the quoted price up by about 5%.
LAPTOP then surged from roughly 5 cents to about $320 in two minutes. The rally quickly collapsed, with the token losing about 98% of its peak value within the next hour.
Market Makers Draw Blame
Trades linked to another market maker generated about $2.18 million in net USDC receipts. A separate wallet also made roughly $686,000 from its liquidity positions.
The report did not publicly identify either market maker. Meanwhile, Biden’s team still holds the 300 million LAPTOP tokens it received at launch.
Biden also accepted responsibility for the token’s performance. “But in the end, it’s my responsibility,” he wrote. “I take the failure personally.”
His call for a buyback and burn adds pressure on the parties involved as questions remain over how LAPTOP was launched and managed.
Related: Jane Street vs SEBI: What’s Behind the Trading Dispute?
Disclaimer: The information presented in this article is for informational and educational purposes only. The article does not constitute financial advice or advice of any kind. Coin Edition is not responsible for any losses incurred as a result of the utilization of content, products, or services mentioned. Readers are advised to exercise caution before taking any action related to the company.
