Crypto entrepreneur eats banana art he bought for $6.2 million

HONG KONG: Crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun fulfilled a promise on Friday he made after spending $6.2 million on an artwork featuring a banana duct-taped to a wall — by eating the fruit.

Sun chomped down on a banana in front of dozens of journalists and influencers at one of Hong Kong's priciest hotels 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."

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

Sun 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.