Crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun on Friday delivered on a commitment he made after purchasing a $6.2 million piece of art featuring a banana taped to a wall—by consuming the fruit.
While at one of Hong Kong’s most luxurious hotels, Sun took a bite of the banana in front of numerous journalists and influencers after giving a speech praising the artwork as “iconic” and drawing connections between conceptual art and cryptocurrency.
“It’s much better than other bananas,” Sun remarked after his first taste.
The conceptual artwork, “Comedian,” was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and sold at a Sotheby’s auction in New York last week. Sun was one of seven bidders.
Sun recounted feeling “disbelief” during the first 10 seconds after winning the auction, only to realise that “this could become something big.” Within those next 10 seconds, he decided to eat the banana.
“Eating it during a press conference can also be part of the artwork’s narrative,” he stated on Friday.
He also compared conceptual art like “Comedian” to NFT art and decentralised blockchain technology. Additionally, Sun revealed a $30 million investment this week in World Liberty Financial, a crypto initiative backed by US president-elect Donald Trump.
Last year, the crypto entrepreneur faced charges from the US Securities and Exchange Commission for offering and selling unregistered securities concerning his crypto venture Tron. The case is still ongoing.
At a function room in the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong, two men dressed as auction house personnel stood in front of a blank wall, with the yellow banana being the only hint of colour.
Sun said that he had only recently decided to bid on the artwork, adding that he had “silly questions” about whether the banana would spoil and how to assess the piece’s value.
The artwork’s owner receives a certificate of authenticity confirming its creation by Cattelan, along with instructions for replacing the fruit once it rots. Attendees at the event on Friday were each given a roll of duct tape and a banana as a memento.
