Can eating a banana make headlines? Well, if it’s art, it can.
Crypto mogul Justin Sun grabbed attention once again today, Friday, November 29, by keeping an unusual promise he made after purchasing a $6.2 million piece of conceptual art, reported Hindustan Times.
The artwork, titled Comedian, was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and featured a banana taped to a wall.
Sun had vowed to eat the banana after acquiring it, and he kept his word.
At one of Hong Kong’s most luxurious hotels, the crypto entrepreneur took a bite of the expensive fruit.
Conceptual art and Cryptocurrency
Before eating the banana, Sun delivered a brief speech praising the artwork as “iconic” and highlighted the similarities between conceptual art and cryptocurrency, both challenging traditional ideas of value and ownership.
After taking a bite, he described it as “really quite good.”
Sun purchased the artwork, Comedian, at a Sotheby’s auction in New York, competing against six other bidders. The piece originally debuted at Art Basel in 2019, and previously sparked controversy about its artistic status.
Banana adding to his legacy
Sun acknowledged feeling a moment of “disbelief” upon winning the bid but soon recognised the cultural and financial significance of the piece.
“This could turn into something major,” he remarked, adding that eating the banana at a press event could play a key role in its legacy.
The moment was symbolic of the growing intersection between the worlds of digital art and cryptocurrency. Sun drew comparisons between Comedian and NFT (non-fungible token) art, suggesting that both represent intellectual property in a digital space, rather than physical objects.
He recently made headlines with a new $30 million investment in World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency project backed by US president-elect Donald Trump, reported Hindustan Times.
