The Lessons of Crypto Media

In late November, a work of art called Comedian, by Maurizio Cattelan, sold at auction for just over six million dollars. Comedian is better known by its description: a banana duct-taped to a wall. The buyer was Justin Sun, a cryptocurrency entrepreneur and major investor in World Liberty Financial, Donald Trump’s digital-asset company. Two years ago, Sun had made headlines when he and his firm, Tron, which specializes in cryptocurrency- and blockchain-based entertainment, were charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with fraud and other crimes. (The case was recently put on hold by the SEC, the Trump administration having eased up on the government’s pursuit of corruption.) Back home in Hong Kong, upon receiving Comedian and its certificate of authenticity, Sun held a press event. Onstage, he compared the piece to crypto—“the real value is the concept itself,” he said—and proceeded to eat the banana.