If you’ve ever felt like you’re wasting too much money on things you don’t need, I have some news that will probably help you feel better. This week, Justin Sun, founder of cryptocurrency company Tron, announced he purchased a banana for just over $6 million. Now he plans to eat it.

It’s worth noting that this isn’t just any old banana. No, instead it’s part of an art exhibition by a famous artist. Maurizio Cattelánwhose work appeared in some of the world’s most renowned galleries and museums. Cattelan’s “Comedian,” which debuted in 2019, features the aforementioned banana stuck to a wall with duct tape and has caused controversy and consternation in the art world, with some calling it a clever satirical joke and others referring to it. as being within the jurisdiction of “idiot artists, collectors, dealers and critics. »

Today, Sun, who founded the DeFi token Tron in 2014, became the winning bidder in an auction of the art installation. at Sotheby’s auction house which took place on Thursday. Sun’s acquisition of the banana now makes it “arguably the most expensive fruit in the world,” according to the New York Times. reports.

“I am delighted to announce that I have successfully acquired the iconic work of Maurizio Cattelan, Actor for $6.2 million,” Sun wrote about. “It’s not just a work of art; it represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community. I believe this piece will inspire more thought and discussion in the future and become part of history. I am honored to be the proud owner of the banana.

While sticking a banana on a wall doesn’t exactly seem like the apotheosis of creative achievement, the work has been called a critique of the art market itself, designed to skewer whoever is stupid enough to buy it . Indeed, in its 2019 review of the work, The Guardian’s Jonathan Jones wrote that the banana itself should not be mocked, as it is designed to mock the “market since it is clearly not worth the price at which it is sold”. Jones added: “As Damien Hirst said, traders are nasty people who sell shit to idiots. »

If this is indeed the aim of Actorit seems that Sun presented himself as the latest willing victim of capitalist excesses. After Sun ate the banana ActorAll that will remain is a “certificate of authenticity” from Cattelan, which may increase in value over time. So basically he’s paying $6 million for a piece of paper.

But then people like Sun (i.e. the denizens of the DeFi and web3 communities) seem to have structured their entire lives around spending huge amounts of money on things of negligible value. After all, Actor is strikingly similar in both form and function to the NFT craze that took the crypto world by storm several years ago and which, like Cattelan’s “certificate of authenticity”, asked consumers to pay millions for what was little more than a spot in a decentralized database. In Cattelan’s case, his work may continue to have value, given his status as one of the art world’s most changing figures. However, when it comes to NFTs, the market has visibly shiftedleaving those who shelled out fortunes for them with a busted bank account.