29th November 2024 – (Hong Kong) Chinese-born cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun made headlines on Friday as he live-streamed himself at The Peninsula Hong Kong, devouring a banana from an artwork for which he paid a staggering US$6.2 million at a Sotheby’s auction in New York.
However, the banana he consumed was not the original piece sold by Sotheby’s; that banana was purchased last week from a street vendor outside the auction house in Manhattan. “This one was just bought in Hong Kong,” Sun explained during the event organised by Tron, the blockchain company he founded in 2017.
Sun, 34, began the event with a lengthy speech in Mandarin about the significance of “Comedian,” the conceptual artwork created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan in 2019. The piece, featuring a banana duct-taped to a wall, sparked controversy and debate about the nature of art when it debuted at Art Basel in Miami Beach.
After taking his first bite, Sun remarked, “It’s much better than other bananas. It’s really quite good.” He reflected on his emotional response upon winning the bid, describing a moment of disbelief followed by a realisation of the potential impact: “Eating it at a press conference can also become a part of the artwork’s history,” he noted.
During the event, Sun drew parallels between conceptual art and cryptocurrency, stating that both realms rely heavily on intellectual property and digital existence rather than physical manifestations. He also revealed a recent US$30 million investment in World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency project associated with Donald Trump.
Sun’s involvement in the cryptocurrency space has not been without controversy; he is currently facing charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for offering and selling unregistered securities related to his crypto project, Tron. At the Peninsula hotel, two men dressed as auction house staff stood near a blank wall, with the banana providing the only colour to the scene. Sun admitted that he had “dumb questions” about the artwork, including concerns about the banana’s decay and its valuation.
The original banana, purchased for less than a dollar from a fruit stall on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, brought emotional reactions from the vendor, Shah Alam, who expressed disbelief upon learning that the banana had been sold for millions. “I am a poor man,” said Alam, 74. Sun found Alam’s response “poignant” and pledged to purchase 100,000 bananas from his stall as a celebration of the connection between everyday life and art.
As a memento from the event, attendees received rolls of duct tape and bananas, reinforcing Sun’s message that art can be both enjoyable and accessible. “Everyone has a banana to eat,” he quipped, highlighting the blend of whimsy and seriousness that characterises his unique approach to art and entrepreneurship.
