Crypto Entrepreneur Eats $6 Million Banana on Stage (ft.com) 24
Crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun consumed Maurizio Cattelan's "Comedian" artwork -- a banana taped to a wall -- during an event in Hong Kong on Friday, declaring "the real value is the concept itself." Sun, founder of cryptocurrency platform Tron, purchased the piece for $6.2 million at Sotheby's last week, significantly above its $1-1.5 million estimate.
The acquisition included only a certificate of authenticity and assembly instructions, not the physical banana or tape. The Chinese-born entrepreneur, who faces SEC charges over fraud and securities violations, made the payment in cryptocurrency.
The acquisition included only a certificate of authenticity and assembly instructions, not the physical banana or tape. The Chinese-born entrepreneur, who faces SEC charges over fraud and securities violations, made the payment in cryptocurrency.
So... (Score:1)
He just ate a banana he got at the nearest greengrocer? This is news?
Re: So... (Score:1)
Fitting (Score:4, Informative)
>>The Chinese-born entrepreneur, who faces SEC charges over fraud and securities violations, made the payment in cryptocurrency.
So he paid for one ridiculously overpriced asset with another ridiculously overpriced asset.
Re: (Score:2)
The problem is all the stupid money going into crypto is causing stupid money to be spent stupidly.
Sure, while for art it only really affects a few people, when it spills over it gets silly.
(The art world is full of wash trades - there are people who will bid on artwork just to keep its price up because in the end, no sane person would pay anywhere close to that price. The entire reason for this is to keep the value high and hope no one liquidates it).
A similar issue applies for crypto - Bitcoin is only wor
Re: (Score:2)
Worse. He paid for one imaginary asset that is easily copied with another imaginary asset that is easily copied.
Re: (Score:2)
>>The Chinese-born entrepreneur, who faces SEC charges over fraud and securities violations, made the payment in cryptocurrency.
So he paid for one ridiculously overpriced asset with another ridiculously overpriced asset.
Stories like this are the surest indication that we are near an economic top. L now, and prepare to go short when the time comes.
Not sure about the rest of the world (Score:5, Interesting)
The reason for the silly prices for things that aren't really art was because of tax evasion.
The way the scam worked was you bought a piece of "art" for $1 million and now there's a market for that art so it's worth 6 million now because clearly someone will pay that much then you donated to some foundation or another and get a $6 million dollar write off on your taxes that translates into 3 million dollars in your pocket.
The IRS closed that loophole. That's why if you remember NFT is going crazy it was because a bunch of people thought they could maneuver NFTs through that loophole. The IRS said no and that's when they crashed.
Peak 2024 (Score:1)
A man overpays for what amounts to an NFT of an art piece with assets acquired from dodgy crypto, eats an unrelated banana and declares that value lies in the concept.
Who else had "sublime epitome of end-stage capitalism" on their bingo card? Anyone?
He was speaking literally (Score:5, Insightful)
The acquisition included only a certificate of authenticity and assembly instructions, not the physical banana or tape. The Chinese-born entrepreneur, who faces SEC charges over fraud and securities violations, made the payment in cryptocurrency.
This is actually a performance art piece and the buyers are part of the performance, and buying the thing with cryptocurrency is ideally in the spirit of the whole thing because it's even more theatrical than using fiat currency.
Proof (Score:3)
If this isn't proof our economic system is insane, I don't know what could be.
Re: (Score:2)
As rsilvergun mentioned above, you cannot just write off art based on purchase price in the US [irs.gov],* the IRS employs appraisers and they will decide what art is worth. And the higher the art is valued, the more likely it is that they will audit. But in terms of making profit, things are still worth whatever you can sell them for.
* Yes, I know the link is about charitable donations, but it still speaks to valuation.
Re:Proof (Score:4, Interesting)
Capitalism is a great motivator of productivity, but it does not come with guardrails.
We need to define a wealth floor and a wealth ceiling, based on what we as a society can afford and what kind of wealth gap and concentration we collectively determine are fair, and then have wealth taxes and universal income payments to keep things reasonable.
No one person should control a billion dollars. I'd argue the cap should be well below 10 million. As soon as you can stop working yet maintain a median lifestyle for the remainder of your days, that should be about where the cap is.
Re: (Score:2)
OK, well below 10 million. How well below 10 million? Be specific please.
ps - 'we as a society can afford' implies that 'society' has an ownership stake in an individual's wealth. I disagree.
Re: (Score:2)
At the rate of $6 million per banana that rich person won't be rich much longer. It's a self correcting problem.
how old is the banana? (Score:2)
So the "banana" didn't go bad? Can't be the same banana.
This is fraud.
So If I eat a banana on stage I'm a performance artist?
Jeebus, the bar for performance art is so low these days. Whatever happend to wrapping an entire island in plastic wrap?
Re: how old is the banana? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
"some assembly required"
<apologies to developmentally handicapped people>
My parting shot still stands: the bar for (even) performance art is lowered below the lowest low I could imagine... he bought the instructions, and a certificate of authenticity. This almost stands to reason: even peformance art has become virtualized?
Ahhh, decadence... (Score:3)
Why do so many news stories and cultural observations lately remind me of the extravagant decadence which preceded the fall of the Roman empire? I wish I could say that paying $6M for instructions to tape a banana to a wall was the pinnacle of such derangement, but it isn't even close.
Besides, how would Steve Austin, (the Lee Majors character, NOT the wrestler), feel about playing second banana to, well, an actual banana?
Lee Majors (Score:2)
Did he eat it in slow motion?
Re: (Score:3)
Why do so many news stories and cultural observations lately remind me of the extravagant decadence which preceded the fall of the Roman empire?
Most of the "extravagant decadence" we usually associate with the Roman empire-- Nero, Caligula, Tiberius-- occurred during the rise of the Roman empire, not the fall.
Read Suetonius for details.
Re: (Score:2)
if he did pay in crypto, perhaps it shows how little value cryptos have.