Justin Sun, a Chinese-born cryptocurrency entrepreneur, has followed through on his promise to eat the banana from Maurizio Cattelan’s controversial artwork Comedian, which he purchased for a staggering $6.2 million (£4.9m) at a Sotheby’s auction in New York last week.
The artwork, created in 2019, features a banana duct-taped to a wall and has become infamous for its unconventional concept and high auction price.
Sun, who outbid six others to acquire the installation, took the bold step of eating the banana during a press conference in Hong Kong. Using the moment to draw comparisons between the artwork and the world of cryptocurrency, he turned the act into a statement about the nature of both art and digital currency. “Eating it at a press conference can also become a part of the artwork’s history,” Sun said, noting that it was “much better than other bananas.”
This is not the first time the banana has been consumed—performance artist David Datuna ate it in 2019, and a South Korean student followed suit in 2023. However, unlike those instances, Sun paid a significant sum for the privilege. The banana is regularly replaced before exhibitions, and Sun also bought the rights to display the installation, which includes a guide on how to replace the fruit.
The banana for the event was purchased for just 35 cents on the day of the auction but has now become one of the most expensive fruits in history. Attendees at the press conference were also given bananas and duct tape as souvenirs.
Sun, who runs the Tron blockchain network—a platform for trading cryptocurrencies—compared Comedian and other abstract artworks to non-fungible tokens (NFTs). NFTs are digital assets that, like Cattelan’s banana, have no inherent value but are valued based on what people are willing to pay. Sun has been a vocal advocate for NFTs and digital art, and his blockchain network is a popular platform for trading them.
Despite his success in the cryptocurrency world, Sun has faced legal troubles. He was charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for offering and selling unregistered security tokens, a case which is still ongoing. Sun denies the charges, and this week he disclosed a $30 million investment in a crypto project backed by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
