Tron founder Justin Sun bought a banana duct-taped to a wall for $6.2M at a New York auction and now plans to eat the artwork.
Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, purchased an artwork of a banana taped to a wall for $6.2 million at an auction in New York. He’s going to eat it now.
In an X post on November 21, Sun stated, “I’ve purchased the banana.” “This transcends the realms of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community;
it is more than just a piece of art.”
“As part of this special artistic experience, I will personally eat the banana in the coming days,” he continued.
The artwork, “Comedian,” by Maurizio Cattelan, is a real fresh banana duct-taped to a wall.
To name it Comedian, Justin Sun has paid for a certificate of authenticity and instructions on how to stick a banana to a wall, but the owner of the artwork can replace the tape as needed and the banana as it rots.
The art was put up for auction for the first time ever, and Sotheby’s, the auction’s host, reported on X that there was “over six minutes of heated bidding” for it.
In response to audience groans, the auctioneer joked that “it’s slipping through the auction room” and urged bidders not to “let it slip away,” which caused the bidding to soar from $800,000 to millions of dollars.
With the hammer dropping on his $5.2 million price, plus $1 million in Sotheby’s fees, Sun was able to outbid six other bidders, exceeding its presale estimate of between $1 million and $1.5 million by more than four times.
Justin Sun most likely needs as many nutrients as possible.
The majority of the volume for Tether, the biggest stablecoin in the world and the subject of a rumored criminal investigation by the US Justice Department, is processed by the Tron founder’s blockchain.
According to reports, the FBI and New York authorities have also been looking into Justin Sun’s illicit activities.
In March 2023, he was also sued by Tron and the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly selling the Tron token as an unregistered security and engaging in wash-trading to increase its value, a claim he refutes.
Sun would be the third known instance of someone eating the artwork if he did consume the banana.
When the piece was on exhibit at a Seoul art museum in April of last year, a student taped the peel back to the wall after eating the banana.
He then claimed that he ate it because he was hungry after skipping breakfast.
When the piece sold for $120,000 at its 2019 Miami Art Basel debut, artist David Datuna ate it, causing the first incident with the banana.
He was not prosecuted, and the banana was later replaced.
