Collector Justin Sun wants to “thank” the seller behind the $6.2 million banana.

Justin Sun, the Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur who purchased Maurizio Cattelan’s banana sculpture comedian for $6.2 million last week said he wanted to “thank” the seller who sold the fruit. It’s also likely that he read this too New York Times Report on the man who sold this piece of fruit to a Sotheby’s representative for just 25 cents.

Sun says he now hopes to make amends and announced that he would buy 100,000 bananas from the stall to show his appreciation to Shah Alam, who is not the owner of the stall and would likely not see much of that profit.

Outside the auction house’s headquarters at East 72nd Street and York Avenue, the street vendor’s clerk selling the banana didn’t know it would be taped to a wall, credited to Cattelan, and gawked at by potential buyers — as well as millions of viewers around the world who were curious to see how much someone would pay for it. After a brief bidding war between six collectors during Sotheby’s contemporary art evening auction on Wednesday, November 20, the artwork sold for more than six times its estimate of $1 million.

Shortly after the sale, Sun, 34, announced at a press conference in Hong Kong that he was the buyer. The work, which went viral online after premiering at Art Basel Miami in 2019, comes with a certificate of authenticity and installation instructions (for example, it must be installed exactly 160 centimeters, or 63 inches, above the ground).

At a conference in Hong Kong on Friday, November 29, Sun ate the fruit and noted that it tasted “much better” than other bananas. “Eating it at a press conference can also become part of the story of the artwork,” he said.

Artist Maurizio Cattelan comedian on view at Sotheby’s. Photo: John Nacion/Getty Images.

This week the absurdism of not just conceptual art but the entire art industry was shown in sharp contrast as reporters from the New York Times went to interview Alam, who was unknowingly part of the deal. A 74-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant who works 12-hour shifts outside Sotheby’s and lives in a basement in the Bronx was said to have cried when he heard what it was selling for.

“Those who bought it, what kind of people are they?” he asked the reporters. “Don’t you know what a banana is?”

Suddenly, what seemed like a harmless joke on the art world seemed like a regrettably out-of-touch prank by the elites that wasn’t funny at all.

Sun has now joined the social media platform

“As the owner of a fruit stand on Manhattan’s Upper East Side (sic; Alam is not the owner but works there), Mr. Shah Alam inadvertently became a key contributor to a groundbreaking work of art,” he wrote. “Far from being an ordinary piece of fruit, this banana has acquired profound cultural and artistic significance.”

Sun added that the 100,000 bananas he buys will be distributed for free at the fruit stand. “Show a valid ID to receive a banana while supplies last,” Sun said in the X post. “This is not only a unique event, but also a celebration of the beautiful connection between everyday life and art. I hope that this gesture will help bring the importance of this special art history to more people.”

An exterior view of Sotheby’s in New York City. Photo: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images.

“Alam’s contribution to this extraordinary work of art is indispensable as it highlights the limitless possibilities and value hidden in everyday life,” Sun added. “I look forward to visiting his fruit stand in person to once again express my gratitude.”

In a follow-up interview with the New York Times Following Sun’s grand gesture, Alam gave some more realistic numbers: It would “cost thousands of dollars to get that many bananas from a wholesale market in the Bronx.” It would also be logistically very complex to transport 100,000 bananas, which are packed in boxes 100 pieces will be delivered. If they were all sold, the profit would not be $25,000, but $6,000.

“There is no profit in selling bananas,” Mr Alam said New York Times. A GoFundMe for Alam started two days ago has already surpassed its $5,000 goal. Organizations fighting hunger have organized protests outside Sotheby’s.

Sun, the founder of a cryptocurrency company called TRON, was charged last year by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for selling unregistered securities. This case is ongoing. The sale of the banana to the crypto investor came during a major rally in blockchain-based currencies following the election of Donald Trump, as well as the Bitcoin halving earlier this year (which usually results in an increase in value). months later).

Just as the banana was being sold, Sun was said to be the largest investor in a crypto project backed by US President-elect Donald Trump, pumping $30 million into the so-called World Liberty Financial.

According to the New York Timesthe stall owner has not yet been contacted by Sun regarding his large banana purchase.