Cryptocurrency platform TRON founder, Justin Sun, paid an amount of $6.2 million to eat a banana, a single piece of banana. Sounds bizzare, right? Sun earlier bought a conceptual artwork featuring a banana duct-taped to a wall at a price of $6.2 million from a New York auction. Approximately after 10 days of holding on to the prize, Sun finally ate the banana, and the ‘priceless’ moment was captured in a video.
Netizens were left wondering how the pricey fruit tastes. Sun answered their questions and wrote, “Many friends asked me how this banana tasted. To be honest, for a banana with such a story, the taste is naturally different from ordinary bananas. I tasted the flavor of a Gros Michel banana from 100 years ago.”
许多朋友问我这根香蕉的味道如何。老实说，对于一根有如此故事的香蕉，味道自然和普通香蕉不一样。我品尝出了一种100年前大麦克香蕉的味道。🍌 pic.twitter.com/ddo8pEjatx
— H.E. Justin Sun 🍌 (@justinsuntron) November 29, 2024
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Netizens React
A user asked said, “Yo Justin. According to sources, the banana get’s replaced every 2-3 days and that’s why it always looks yellow. So my question is, is the art officially RUINED and disconitnued or there will be a new banana taped?”
The banana does indeed get replaced every auction, which is why another user said, “He ate it because he didn’t want the insane maintenance fee of having the artist keep coming back to replace black old bananas with a fresh one every 3 – 4 days.”
A third user wrote, “The banana skin and the tape should be eaten as well. They probably worth $3mil there.”
A user gave an idea to preserve it and wrote “Consider continuing the evolution of the ‘art performance’ by GOLD plating the banana and then encasing it in a very thick crystal container. Will be greater publicity and fun to watch as well.”
A user pointed out the obvious and wrote, “I think this same artwork or one of its siblings ( I think there are 3 of these) was also eaten… I think they just replace the banana. Which is why this is dumb. You literally no longer have the original work if you own this to have to replace the banana.”
Museums Go Banana
Titled Comedian and created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, the artwork first gained widespread attention during its 2019 debut at Art Basel Miami Beach. The piece—a single yellow banana affixed to a white wall with silver duct tape—sparked lively debates about whether it was a witty satire or a critique of the art world’s questionable standards. One particularly memorable moment occurred when another artist removed the banana and ate it.
The installation generated such a buzz that it was eventually removed from display. Despite this, three editions of the artwork were sold at the time for prices ranging from $120,000 to $150,000, according to a report by AP, citing the gallery handling the sales.
Fast forward five years, and cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun, founder of TRON, purchased the piece at a Sotheby’s auction for over 40 times the original price. Notably, Sun’s purchase included a certificate of authenticity, granting him the right to replicate the setup by taping a banana to a wall and labeling it Comedian, as per the AP report.
