Crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun eats banana art he bought for $9.5 million

Justin Sun fulfilled a promise he made after spending $9.5 million on an artwork featuring a banana duct-taped to a wall – by eating the fruit.

Crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun has fulfilled a promise he made after spending $US6.2 million ($9.5m) on an artwork featuring a banana duct-taped to a wall – by eating the fruit.

At one of Hong Kong’s priciest hotels, Mr Sun chomped down on a banana in front of dozens of journalists and influencers after giving a speech hailing the work as “iconic” and drew parallels between conceptual art and cryptocurrency.

“It’s much better than other bananas,” Mr Sun said after getting his first taste.

“It’s really quite good.”

Chinese-born crypto founder Justin Sun eats a banana artwork composed of a fresh banana stuck to a wall with duct tape. Picture: Peter Parks/AFP

Titled Comedian, the conceptual work created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in New York last week, with Mr Sun among seven bidders.

He said he felt “disbelief” in the first 10 seconds after he won the bid, before realising “this could be something big”.

In the 10 seconds after that, he decided he would eat the banana.

“Eating it at a press conference can also become a part of the artwork’s history,” he said on Friday local time.

The debut of the edible creation at the 2019 Art Basel show in Miami Beach sparked controversy and raised questions about whether it should be considered art – which was Mr Cattelan’s stated aim.

And Mr Sun on Friday compared conceptual art like Comedian to NFT art and decentralised blockchain technology.

“Most of its objects and ideas exist as (intellectual property) and on the internet, as opposed to something physical,” he said.

The debut of the edible creation entitled ‘Comedian’ at Miami’s Art Basel in 2019 sparked controversy and raised questions about whether it should be considered art – Cattelan's stated aim. Picture: Peter Parks/AFP

Mr Sun paid $9.5 million for the edible work at auction. Picture: Peter Parks/AFP

‘Apolitical’ investment

Mr Sun this week also became an adviser to World Liberty Financial, a crypto initiative backed by US President-elect Donald Trump, following a $US30m ($45.9m) investment.

He earlier wrote on social media platform X that he was “excited to help make crypto great again in the US” under Mr Trump’s leadership.

On Friday, Mr Sun denied the investment – which made him the largest investor in the project – was an attempt to influence Mr Trump or American politics.

“We are apolitical,” he told AFP in an interview.

“Me (serving) as adviser also contributes a lot of value … I can be a great bridge for traditional financial and the (decentralised finance) industry.”

The 34-year-old crypto businessman was last year charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission with fraud and securities law violation in relation to his crypto project, Tron.

Mr Sun has rejected the allegations and the case is ongoing.

Mr Sun said the price of the piece ‘probably is going to go up even more in the future, just like Bitcoin’. Picture: Peter Parks/AFP

At a function room at Hong Kong’s Peninsula hotel, two men dressed as auction house staff stood in front of a featureless wall with the yellow banana offering the only splash of colour.

Mr Sun said he only recently decided to bid for the artwork, adding he had “dumb questions” such as whether the banana had decayed and how to value the work.

The artwork owner is given a certificate of authenticity to that the work was created by Mr Cattelan as well as instructions about how to replace the fruit when it goes bad.

Mr Sun told AFP that his artwork may well benefit from the same kind of speculative craze usually associated with crypto.

“I think (the price) probably is going to go up even more in the future, just like Bitcoin,” he said.