Crypto Tycoon Spends $6.2 Million On Record-Breaking Purchase Of One Banana
At a New York auction, cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun paid $6.2 million for Maurizio Cattelan’s notorious piece of art, Comedian, which is a banana glued to a wall.
The founder of Tron stated that he intends to consume the banana, characterizing the act as a “unique artistic experience.”
“This is not just an artwork; it represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community,” Sun wrote in a Nov. 21 X post. He plans to consume the banana in the coming days.
Sotheby’s auctioned the artwork, which comes with a certificate of authenticity and instructions for changing the rotting banana. The piece’s first bid of $800,000 swiftly increased, and the ultimate price significantly beyond the $1–$1.5 million presale estimate. Sun paid $5.2 million plus $1 million in fees, outbidding six other bidders.
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A genuine banana attached to a wall using duct tape, along with a certificate of authenticity and comprehensive instructions for changing the fruit and tape as needed, make up the comedian. According to Cattelan, who characterized it as a genuine remark on “speed and business” controlling art fairs, it is regarded as a reflection on contemporary values and the art market.
There have been previous instances of Comedian being devoured. When the banana sold for $120,000 at Art Basel Miami in 2019, artist David Datuna ate it. After skipping breakfast, a student in Seoul ate the piece in 2022, claiming to be hungry.
Sun’s acquisition occurs while he is still being watched. The SEC filed a lawsuit against him in March 2023 for allegedly engaging in unregistered securities sales and Tron token wash trading, which Sun disputes, and the U.S. Justice Department is apparently looking into him and Tether.
The Tron Foundation, the BitTorrent Foundation, and Rainberry (previously BitTorrent) are accused of breaking securities laws in this case.
In order to entice investors, the SEC claims that the Chinese businessman and his companies colluded to disperse billions of cryptocurrency assets and fabricated trading volumes. Sun is also accused by the federal government of manipulating the price of BitTorrent’s BTT coin.
According to Tron’s argument, their primary objection was directed at the Howey test’s third prong, which deals with the expectation of financial gain from other people’s labor. They asserted that the SEC’s request for a “sur-reply,” or supplemental reply, was unjustified and misrepresented their position.
