At an auction in New York, Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, acquired an artwork featuring a banana taped to a wall for $6.2 million. Right now, he intends to eat it.
In a post on X on November 21, Sun stated, “I have purchased the banana.” “This is not merely an artwork; it symbolizes a cultural phenomenon that unites the cryptocurrency community, memes, and the realm of art.”
As part of this distinctive artistic experience, I will consume the banana in the days ahead,” he also stated.
The “Comedian” artwork is a fresh banana affixed to a wall with duct tape. It is the work of Maurizio Cattelan. Nevertheless, the artwork’s proprietor can replace the banana and tape as they deteriorate.
Consequently, Sun has effectively purchased instructions on attaching a banana to a wall and a certificate of authenticity to refer to the piece as Comedian.
Sotheby’s, the auctioneer, reported on X that the work elicited “over six minutes of heated bidding,” marking its inaugural auction.
As the auctioneer joked that “it is slipping through the auction room” and urged bidders not to “let it slip away,” the bidding began at $800,000. It rapidly escalated to millions of dollars, eliciting groans from the audience.
The hammer fell on Sun’s $5.2 million bid, over four times the presale estimate of between $1 million and $1.5 million, and included $1 million in Sotheby’s expenses. Sun was able to outbid six other bidders.
It is probable that Sun requires an abundance of nutrients.
The founder of the Tron blockchain processes the majority of the volume for Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin, which was reportedly under criminal investigation by the United States Justice Department.
According to reports, Sun has also been subject to criminal investigations by the FBI and New York prosecutors.
In March 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued him and Tron for allegedly selling the Tron token as an unregistered security and wash-trading it to increase its price. He denies these allegations.
The third documented instance of an individual feasting on the artwork will occur if Sun consumes the banana.
When the work was displayed in a Seoul art museum in April last year, a student consumed the banana and subsequently affixed the peel to the wall. He later stated that he consumed it due to hunger, resulting from skipping meals.
The initial incident involving the banana occurred when the artist David Datuna consumed the piece after selling it for $120,000 at its 2019 Miami Art Basel debut. He did not incur any legal repercussions due to the banana’s replacement.
