Cryptocurrency entrepreneur who bought Banana art for $6.2 Million eats the fruit in Hong Kong

Cryptocurrency entrepreneur eats Banana Artwork in Hong Kong press conference.

Following his pledge to eat the banana from a $6.2 million (£4.9 million) artwork purchase last week, a Chinese-born bitcoin entrepreneur has kept his word.

At Sotheby’s auction house in New York, six people outbid Justin Sun to acquire Maurizio Cattelan’s notorious 2019 work, Comedian, which is a banana duct-taped to a wall.

He ate the fruit during a Hong Kong news conference, using the occasion to make comparisons between the artwork and bitcoin.

Before performances, Mr. Sun routinely replaces the banana and purchases the right to demonstrate the installation along with instructions for fruit replacement.

Both a performance artist in 2019 and a South Korean student in 2023 consumed it, but neither paid any money, much less $6.2 million.

“Eating it at a press conference can also become part of the artwork’s history,” Mr. Sun remarked.

“It’s far better than several bananas,” he said.

Admitting he had “dumb questions” regarding whether the banana rotted, the 34-year-old claimed he was fascinated by the effort.

Originally purchased for 35 cents on the day of last week’s auction, a fresh banana turned out to be one of the most costly fruits in the world.

Every Friday, guests received a banana and a duct tape roll as a memento.

Mr. Sun remarked, “Everyone has a banana to eat.”

Running the Tron blockchain network, Mr. Sun offers a service allowing customers to trade cryptocurrencies.

Operating outside of banks, cryptocurrencies are digital currencies with great promise for very safe, decentralized transactions.

Mr. Sun likened the artwork, including other abstract pieces similar to it, to NFTs.

These “non-fungible tokens” are bits of digital art devoid of inherent worth except what others would value.

Platforms like Mr. Sun’s allow one to trade NFTs.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission brought charges against him last year for marketing and selling unregistered security tokens. Mr. Sun disputes the allegations; hence the lawsuit is still in progress.

This week, Mr. Sun disclosed his $30 million investment in a cryptocurrency initiative that US President-elect Donald Trump supports.