A cryptocurrency executive made headlines when he decided to consume a $6.2 million banana artwork that he had bought, and declared his intention to acquire an additional 100,000 pieces of fruit from the same artist.
The artist, a 74-year-old fruit vendor named Shah Alam, expressed concerns about the feasibility of fulfilling such a large order, stating it would be extremely challenging to source that many bananas and that the profit margin would be minimal.
Sun made headlines around the world when he became the successful bidder on ‘Comedian’ by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan last week.
The piece, which was dubbed the ‘most expensive piece of fruit in the world’, featured a 35 cent banana duct taped to a wall.
Alam sold the fruit to Cattelan for 35 cents from his cart outside Sotheby’s auction house in New York.
He was distraught to learn how much the low-cost item fetched when it went under the hammer.
Despite Alam’s worries, the crypto boss, Justin Sun, reassured him by stating that he would buy tens of thousands more bananas and give them away for free worldwide through his platform until supplies ran out.
But Alam, who earns $12 an hour for his 12 hour days and lives in a shared house with five other men, told the New York Times: ‘There is not any profit in selling bananas’.
The net profit of the purchase would work out to be $6,000 and would prove very difficult to orchestrate since they are sold in boxes of 100, Alam added.
He also explained that any profit would go to the stand’s owner, Mohammad R. Islam, 53, who did offer to split any pay day but said he had yet to be approached.
‘It’s definitely an inequality,’ Islam’s brother Mohammad Alam Badsha said of the potential sale.
A GoFundMe has since been set up for Alam which has raised more than $6,000 so far.
Sun purchased the artwork for $6.2 million including auction house fees.
At one of Hong Kong’s priciest hotels, he gobbled up the 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,’ Sun said after getting his first taste. ‘It’s really quite good.’
Sun was among seven people vying for the piece said he felt ‘disbelief’ in the first 10 seconds after he won the bid, before realising ‘this could become 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 Friday.
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 — Cattelan’s stated aim.
And 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.
Sun this week also became an advisor to World Liberty Financial, a crypto initiative backed by US president-elect Donald Trump, following a $30 million investment.
He earlier wrote on social media platform X that he was ‘excited to help make crypto great again in the US’ with Trump’s leadership.
On Friday Sun denied that the investment, which made him the largest investor in the project, was an attempt to influence Trump or American politics. But Sun said he is ‘apolitical’.
‘Me (serving) as advisor also contribute 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.
Sun has rejected the allegations and the case is ongoing.
