Justin Sun Purchases Banana-Taped Artwork for $6.2 Million at Auction
Tron founder Justin Sun paid $6.2 million at a New York auction for the artwork "Comedian" by Maurizio Cattelan, which features a banana taped to a wall. The owner can replace the banana as it decays and renew the tape.
Sun explained his purchase on the X platform, stating that the artwork represents a cultural phenomenon bridging art, memes, and cryptocurrency. He plans to eat the banana as part of the artistic experience.
Sotheby’s hosted the auction, which featured six minutes of bidding, starting at $800,000 and quickly rising into millions. Sun secured the piece with a bid of $5.2 million, plus an additional $1 million in auction fees.
The artwork debuted in 2019 at Art Basel Miami Beach at the Perrotin gallery booth, attracting large crowds that led to its removal for safety reasons. All three editions sold for between $120,000 and $150,000 each.
Justin Sun to Pay in Tron (TRX)?
In a Bloomberg interview, Sun mentioned he was considering paying the $6.2 million in his cryptocurrency, Tron (TRX). He justified the purchase, noting his dual interests in cryptocurrency and art, emphasizing the conceptual nature of the artwork as aligning with decentralization in the crypto world.
Sun is currently facing ongoing legal issues, including a criminal investigation by the FBI and New York prosecutors. In March 2023, the SEC filed a lawsuit against him and Tron, alleging that the Tron (TRX) token was sold as an unregistered security and involved in wash trading to inflate its price.