HONG KONG – A cryptocurrency entrepreneur who purchased a piece of concept art consisting of a simple banana, taped to a wall, to $6.2 million last week I ate fruit in Hong Kong on Friday.

Born in China Justin Sun peeled off the tape and tasted the banana during a press conference at the Peninsula Hong Kong, one of the city’s most expensive hotels in the popular Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district.

“It tastes much better than other bananas. Indeed, it’s quite good,” he said.

“Comedian,” by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, was a phenomenon when it debuted in 2019 at Art Basel Miami Beach, as festival-goers tried to figure out whether the a single yellow fruit affixed to a white wall with silver tape was a cheeky joke or comment about questionable standards among art collectors. At one point, another artist took the banana off the wall and ate it.

The work attracted so much attention that it had to be removed from public view. But three editions sold for between $120,000 and $150,000, depending on the gallery handling sales at the time.

Last week, Sunfounder of the cryptocurrency platform TRON, won the bid at the Sotheby’s auction in New York. Or, more precisely, Sun purchased a certificate of authenticity that gives him the authority to stick a banana on a wall and call it “Comedian.”

At the time, Sun said in a statement that the work “represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes and the cryptocurrency community.”

“I will personally eat the banana as part of this unique artistic experience, honoring its place in both art history and popular culture,” he said.

The South China Morning Post reported that the banana he ate on Friday was purchased in Hong Kong.

Sun announced on Tuesday that it had invested $30 million in World Liberty Financial, which was launched by US President-elect Donald Trump in September like his family’s cryptocurrency business.

Sun said in his post that his platform, TRON, is “committed to making America great again and leading innovation.” Following his investment in Trump’s company, he became an advisor to World Liberty Financial.

Last year, Sun was accused by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud and other violations of securities law. In response, he said on X that the complaint “is unfounded.”