HONG KONG — A cryptocurrency entrepreneur who bought a bit of conceptual art consisting of a easy banana, duct-taped to a wall, for $6.2 million final week ate the fruit in Hong Kong on Friday.
Chinese language-born Justin Sun peeled off the duct tape and loved the banana in a press convention held in The Peninsula Hong Kong, considered one of the metropolis’s priciest resorts, in the in style purchasing district of Tsim Sha Tsui.
“It tastes significantly better than different bananas. Certainly, fairly good,” he stated.
“Comic,” by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, was a phenomenon when it debuted in 2019 at Art Basel Miami Seaside, as festivalgoers tried to make out whether or not the single yellow piece of fruit affixed to a white wall with silver duct tape was a joke or a cheeky commentary on questionable requirements amongst art collectors. At one level, one other artist took the banana off the wall and ate it.
The piece attracted a lot consideration that it needed to be withdrawn from view. However three editions offered for between $120,000 and $150,000, in response to the gallery dealing with gross sales at the time.
Final week, Sun, founding father of cryptocurrency platform TRON, made the profitable bid at the Sotheby’s public sale in New York. Or, extra precisely, Solar bought a certificates of authenticity that provides him the authority to duct-tape a banana to a wall and name it “Comic.”
At the time, Solar stated in a press release that the piece “represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency group.”
“I’ll personally eat the banana as a part of this distinctive creative expertise, honoring its place in each art historical past and in style tradition,” he stated.
The South China Morning Put up reported the banana he ate on Friday was bought in Hong Kong.
Solar on Tuesday introduced on X he had invested $30 million in World Liberty Monetary, which was launched by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in September as his household’s cryptocurrency enterprise.
Solar stated in the publish that his platform, TRON, is “dedicated to creating America nice once more and main innovation.” Following his funding in Trump’s enterprise, he turned an advisor of World Liberty Monetary.
Final 12 months, Solar was charged by the U.S. Securities and Trade Fee with fraud and different securities legislation violations. In response, he stated on X the grievance “lacks benefit.”
