Can the SEC go after Hunter Biden for LAPTOP collapse?

Investors looking for regulators to intervene in the Hunter Biden LAPTOP meme token “blood bath” may have to look past the SEC, as the Trump-appointed regime has already ruled in a February 2025 staff statement that meme tokens are not securities and anyone who gets burned trading them is not covered under federal securities law.

Reflecting on the epic proportions of the LAPTOP collapse, blockchain analytics firm Arkham reported that the token plunged 95% within 30 minutes of its Wednesday launch on the Base blockchain.

Ironically, the same SEC staff statement that gave the all-clear for the first couple to launch their TRUMP and MELANIA meme tokens is now also protecting the son of former POTUS, Joe Biden.

The irony reaches S-tier when the context of how the physical laptop became major ammo against Joe Biden and led to a federal firearm conviction for Hunter is applied. Now, one dollar sign and a tokenized version of the same object later, and it’s all good, at least, based on the current administration’s SEC interpretation.

Hunter Biden is living in the SEC’s safezone

Hunter Biden did not promise any equity, ownership, or profit throughout all of his LAPTOP promotion. He has also stated that nobody should expect him to make the token worth more, as specifically stated even in the Medium launch update: “You should not expect us or anyone else to make this token more valuable for you.”

The LAPTOP tokenomics do not exactly mirror a typical rug pull setup either.

Even with the token spread, LAPTOP still collapsed from a fully diluted valuation that Arkham estimated at $144 billion two minutes after launch to $5 billion thirty minutes later.

Analytics firm Bubblemaps, which often tracks such red flag launches, called the debut a “bloodbath.” One buyer flagged by Lookonchain turned $200,000 into $3,000 after entering the trade near $218 per token.

LAPTOP was trading around $0.79 as of this early Thursday Cryptopolitan report.

The LAPTOP team blamed the volatile launch on “predatory sniper bots” and a starting liquidity that could not absorb demand, which it put on the market maker.

It wrote on Medium that it would deploy four million tokens to seed Aerodrome pools. It also expects circulating supply to reduce by about 1% in week one when two prediction events resolve “Yes” and burn 10 million tokens.

Which regulators can act on memecoins?

As of February 2025, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance ruled that meme tokens do not meet the Howey test’s profits from the efforts of others requirement, writing: “Neither meme coin purchasers nor holders are protected by the federal securities laws.”

However, law firm analyses published on the Harvard and Columbia corporate-governance blogs stressed two caveats:

• A token dressed up as a meme coin but functioning as a security still gets judged on economic reality.
• Fraud remains open to the DOJ, CFTC, and state regulators.

Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw dissented, warning the carve-out reads like a loophole. But the practical effect stands. The securities regulator is not the obvious cop for LAPTOP.

The staff statement landed after Trump took office and installed new SEC leadership, and it followed his own coin.

The TRUMP token also followed a similar arc as LAPTOP, sinking to leave more than 800,000 wallets with over $2 billion in losses, per Better Markets. Cryptopolitan has noted TRUMP shed about 55% within minutes of the MELANIA launch.

Now, the interpretation that let both Trump tokens trade without securities registration is the same shield standing between the SEC and Hunter Biden’s LAPTOP.

If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter.