Cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun, who bought an artwork which includes a banana taped to a wall for $6.24 million ( ₹53 crore) at Sotheby’s auction in New York, has said that he plans to eat it.

The bizarre banana artwork was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and called Comedian. It was first sold by Perrotin gallery in 2019. Owned by an anonymous collector, it was put on the auction block after a world tour by Sotheby’s, including a stop in Hong Kong, where Sun lives.

An avid art collector, Sun has in the past bought NFTs and traditional blue chip art. In 2021, he bought a $20 million painting by Pablo Picasso and Le Nez, a sculpture by Alberto Giacommetti for $78.4 million. (Also read: Crypto entrepreneur pays $6.2M for banana taped to wall, sparks debate on ‘art’)

Why did he buy the banana?

The owner of cryptocurrency Tron told Barron’s that after he came to know about the artwork, he studied the meaning of conceptual art. “It took me some time to process the whole concept of conceptual art in the first place. Its true value lies in process rather than permanence,” he said, adding that conceptual art has a lot in common with decentralised cryptocurrencies and meme cultures.

“It’s not like the meme is something you can buy—the whole process constitutes the meme itself,” he said.

Bidding for the banana artwork opened at $800,000 and escalated beyond $1.5 million just a minute after as seven bidders hoped to win the taped fruit.

Ultimately, Sun became the owner of the unique artwork and said that “$5 million is the right amount and the budget I gave to this artist”. He said the banana art “represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community.” (Also read: Taped banana artist says his work is a ‘provocation’ on value of art)

What will he do with the art?

Once Sun has the Comedian in his physical possession, he has shared a couple of plans on what is next for the notorious artwork.

He said after he watched the launch of a SpaceX rocket recently, he has a “crazy idea” to tape Cattelan’s banana to a space ship and send it to the moon. He has also said he plans to exhibit it. But more recently, he admitted that he will probably eat it and “complete the decentralised cycle of this artwork.”