Crypto Guy Buys $6.2 Million Banana, Eats It on the Spot

It's one banana. What could it cost, $6.2 million?

Money in the Banana Stand

A crypto baron spent a whopping $6.2 million on a banana duct-taped to a wall — a conceptual artwork titled "Comedian" by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan — at a Sotheby's auction in New York last week.

Instead of "hodling," by allowing his unusual investment to grow in value, entrepreneur Justin Sun did the opposite: eating the banana in front of a group of attendees, as the Guardian reports.

"Eating it at a press conference can also become a part of the artwork’s history," he told the crowd during a flashy event at a Hong Kong luxury hotel last week.

At least the world's most expensive banana was fresh enough for Sun to enjoy eating it.

"It’s much better than other bananas," he claimed. "It’s really quite good."

Some Potassium

To be clear, Cattelan always intended the controversial artwork to spark a conversation around what we can feasibly call "art." In other words, Sun's unusual strategy as an art collector isn't quite as bizarre as it sounds.

He did, however, take the eyebrow-raising concept to its depressing conclusion by comparing the banana to a non-fungible token (NFT).

"Most of its objects and ideas exist as (intellectual property) and on the internet, as opposed to something physical," he said, as quoted by the Guardian.

It wasn't his only questionable investment, either; Sun also disclosed to regulators that he would back US president-elect Donald Trump by investing a whopping $30 million in the former reality TV star's dubious crypto project, World Liberty Financial.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has also charged Sun for selling unregistered securities. It's an unsurprising development, given the sheer number of crypto founders currently being sued over securities fraud.

The crypto baron has also vowed to buy 100,000 bananas from Shah Alam, the owner of the New York City fruit stand that originally sold Cattelan the fateful banana for less than a dollar.

"Through this event, we aim not only to support the fruit stand and Mr. Shah Alam but also to connect the artistic significance of the banana to everyone," Sun told the crowd during the event last week.

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