Cryptocurrency
Crypto Boss Justin Sun Eats $6.2m Banana Artwork
2024-11-29
The cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun has made headlines with a rather unique and attention-grabbing act. After spending a significant amount on an artwork featuring a banana duct-taped to a wall, he took an unexpected step by eating the fruit. This incident has sparked numerous discussions and raised questions about the nature of art and the intersection of cryptocurrency with the art world.
Unraveling the Crypto-Art Connection
Justin Sun's Artistic Gesture
At one of Hong Kong's priciest hotels, 34-year-old Justin Sun chomped down on the banana in front of dozens of journalists and influencers. He gave a speech hailing the work as "iconic" and drew parallels between conceptual art and cryptocurrency. After getting his first taste, he declared, "It's much better than other bananas. It's really quite good."This conceptual work titled Comedian was created by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and sold at a Sotheby's auction in New York last week. Sun was among the seven bidders and initially felt "disbelief" in the first 10 seconds after winning the bid. But within the next 10 seconds, he decided to eat the banana, stating that "Eating it at a press conference can also become a part of the artwork's history."The debut of the edible creation at the 2019 Art Basel show in Miami Beach caused controversy and raised questions about whether it should be considered art, which was Cattelan's stated aim.Comparing Conceptual Art and NFT
On Friday, Sun compared conceptual art like Comedian to NFT (non-fungible token) art and decentralized blockchain technology. He explained that "Most of its objects and ideas exist as (intellectual property) and on the internet, as opposed to something physical." This shows his deep understanding and exploration of the different aspects of the art world and its connection to the digital realm.Sun also disclosed a $30m investment in World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency project backed by the US president-elect, Donald Trump. However, he was last year charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission with offering and selling unregistered securities in relation to his crypto project Tron, and the case is still ongoing.At a function room at the Peninsula hotel in Hong Kong, two men dressed as auction house staff stood in front of a featureless wall with the yellow banana as the only splash of color. Sun said he only recently decided to bid for the artwork and had "dumb questions" like whether the banana had decayed and how to value the work.The banana was reportedly bought for less than a dollar from a fruit stall on Manhattan's Upper East Side by Shah Alam, who works for $12 an hour. When Alam learned that the banana was resold as artwork for millions of dollars, he cried, saying, "I am a poor man. I have never had this kind of money; I have never seen this kind of money." Sun told the New York Times that Alam's response was "poignant."Later, Sun pledged to buy 100,000 bananas from Alam's stall and distribute them worldwide as "a celebration of the beautiful connection between everyday life and art." He expressed his hope to visit Alam's stall in person one day.The artwork owner is given a certificate of authenticity that it was created by Cattelan, along with instructions on how to replace the fruit when it turns bad. Attendees at Friday's event each received a roll of duct tape and a banana as a souvenir. Sun said, "Everyone has a banana to eat."Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.