Crypto boss eats banana bought for $6.2 million

A Chinese-born cryptocurrency entrepreneur followed through on his promise to eat a banana The $6.2m (£4.9m) artwork he bought last week..

Justin Sun beat six others to claim Maurizio Catalan’s 2019 Infamous Comedian – Tapes from a Banana Drain on a Wall – at Sotheby’s auction house in New York.

He ate the fruit during a news conference in Hong Kong where he used the moment to draw a parallel between artwork and cryptocurrency.

Bananas are regularly changed before exhibitions, with Mr Sun buying the right to display the installation as well as a guide on how to change the fruit.

It has been eaten twice before. A performance artist in 2019 And again by one Student from South Korea in 2023 — but the two paid nothing to do so, let alone $6.2 million.

“Eating it at a press conference might as well be part of the artwork’s history,” Mr Sun said.

“It’s much better than other bananas,” he added.

The 34-year-old said he was intrigued by the work, admitting he had “dumb questions” about whether the banana was rotten.

The New York Times reported that a fresh banana was bought for 35 cents at auction last week, before it became possibly one of the world’s most expensive fruits.

At Friday’s event, each participant was given a banana and a roll of duct tape as souvenirs.

“Everybody has a banana to eat,” Mr Sun said.

Mr Sun runs the Tron Blockchain Network – a service where users can trade cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies. which operate independently of banks, offering highly secure decentralized transaction capabilities.

Mr. Sun compared artwork and other similar abstract pieces to NFTs.

These “non-fungible tokens” are pieces of digital artwork that have no intrinsic value, other than what people have suggested.

NFTs can be traded on platforms like Mr. Sons.

Last year, it was charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission with offering and selling unregistered security tokens. Mr Sun denies the allegations and the case is ongoing.

This week, Mr. Sun revealed that he has invested $30 million in a crypto project backed by US President-elect Donald Trump.