Cattelan's Banana Changes Hands Again: From Justin Sun to Ross Ulbricht

At the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, cryptocurrency magnate Justin Sun transferred Maurizio Cattelan's 'Comedian' (the duct-taped banana) to Ross Ulbricht, the recently pardoned founder of Silk Road. The artwork, originally created in 2019, was first shown at Perrotin's booth at Art Basel Miami Beach, where early editions sold for $120,000 and $150,000. One entered the Guggenheim Museum's collection. Last November, Sun purchased it at Sotheby's New York for $6.2 million, then bit it publicly. Ulbricht, who received two life sentences for running an online drug marketplace, was pardoned by President Donald Trump on January 21, 2025. He had previously launched an NFT collection in 2021 to fund his release efforts. Sun, a Trump supporter, invested $30 million in the president's crypto venture World Liberty Financial. Sun was also involved in a legal case with the SEC over unregistered securities and wash trading, which was suspended after Trump's administration realigned with the crypto industry.