Article reprinted from: Zen

Interview: Tong, PANews

Written by Zen, PANews

"Slash youth" Justin Sun has recently gained two new titles, namely "Cattleya Banana Holder" and "World Free Financial Advisor and Largest Investor in US President Trump's Crypto Project."

The last time Sun Yuchen made a sensation in an auction was in 2019, when he bid $4,567,888 for Buffett's charity lunch. This time, Sun Yuchen did not expect that the banana he bought for $6.24 million would receive unprecedented attention. "Even my relatives in the village saw the news and asked me about it." On November 29, Sun Yuchen held a special banana launch conference at the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong and ate the banana in public.

After the meeting, Sun Yuchen gave an exclusive interview to PANews. In addition to supporting Hong Kong as a hub for art and Web3, he has heavily invested in Trump's crypto project and is optimistic about the development of the U.S. crypto market, expressing confidence for 2025.

The world's most expensive banana has drawn global attention.

Sotheby's auctioneer Bark expressed, 'I never thought I would say, ‘A banana for 5 million USD’ as the bidding price continued to rise. Ultimately, this banana was sold for 5.2 million USD, bringing the total final price to 6.24 million USD, with Sun Yuchen paying the auction fee in cryptocurrency.

Before the auction, Sun Yuchen's team estimated the banana's value at 2 to 5 million USD. 'There were a total of 7 bidders; I actually thought I might not win it, so I set a bottom line for myself. If it exceeded 5 million USD by a lot, I wouldn't buy it.' Sun Yuchen stated that within 10 seconds of successfully winning the auction, he found it a bit hard to believe, as he initially approached it with a mindset of just joining the fun. Immediately after, he received interview invitations from global media, which surprised him, and he then made a decision to eat the banana, becoming a part of its history.

According to reports, this banana was bought by a Sotheby's staff member from a fruit stand in Manhattan's Upper East Side that morning. The owner of the fruit stand, who is from Bangladesh, revealed that the banana was sold for 35 cents. This means that the final auction price was 14.85 million times the actual value of the banana.

'The most expensive banana in history' successfully landed on major news and social media hot searches. The expensive auction itself is a true representation of the work's meaning. Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's conceptual art piece (Comedian), looks like a fresh banana taped to the wall. Its original intent is to humorously and absurdly challenge the audience's traditional perception of art. Through an ordinary banana, it explores the value of art, the nature of consumerism, and the absurdity of the art market, aiming to satirize market speculation. Before the auction, the BAN Meme coin launched by Sotheby's vice president also successfully warmed up this auction event within the crypto circle, with BAN's market cap reaching as high as 378 million USD. It was this Meme coin that caught Sun Yuchen's attention on the banana auction.

In fact, this work is limited to three pieces total, two of which were sold in 2019 for 120,000 USD, and the third was donated to the Guggenheim Museum. Each 'work' comes with a corresponding certificate of ownership and installation instructions, allowing owners to replace the banana whenever they wish. Therefore, even if Sun Yuchen eats this banana, he can still replace it with another one. Previously, when this work was exhibited in Miami and Korea, it was also eaten by viewers.

'This is not just a piece of art; it represents a cultural phenomenon that connects art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community. I believe this work will inspire more thoughts and discussions in the future and will become a part of history.'

In Sun Yuchen's eyes, this banana also aligns with the spirit of blockchain. 'It can be assembled freely, displayed anywhere, as long as I give authorization. This is akin to the charm of decentralization, somewhat like the blockchain and crypto world.'

In fact, Sun Yuchen had previously attempted to combine art and the crypto community. In 2021, when the NFT concept was booming, he donated his holdings of Picasso's (Naked Woman Lying with Necklace), crypto artist Beeple's (Ocean’s Front), (ABUNBANCE) (5 pieces), and the complete NFT set from crypto artist Pak (Cube) to the APENFT Foundation. The total value of these masterpieces exceeded 200 million RMB, all used for the APENFT Foundation's exploration of 'Art + Blockchain.'

The 6.24 million USD banana is indeed expensive, but it successfully drew global attention.

Will strive to persuade Trump to develop on TRON; 2025 is a big year for crypto.

In Sun Yuchen's mind, the banana holder is just an amateur label, while his recently added title 'Advisor and Largest Investor in Trump's Crypto Project World Liberty Financial' has also gained widespread attention.

Public reports show that Sun Yuchen invested 30 million USD in World Liberty Financial (WLFI), thereby becoming the largest investor in the project.

When asked why he invested in WLFI, Sun Yuchen said: 'I have been in this industry for 12 years, experiencing three cycles. Many may think our industry still lacks technological development and many things, needing mass adoption. People often ask, what are you doing and what’s the use? I have the opposite view; I believe our industry’s technology and everything is ready. It’s just that due to many regulatory reasons, we have been unable to use it and have been restricted.'

In Sun Yuchen's view, for instance, the stablecoin on the TRON platform is the most typical case. The technological innovation of stablecoins far exceeds that of banks and Swift, but in many places, it is still restricted. Regulation has to start in the U.S. because the U.S. serves as a model for all countries; everyone looks at the U.S. example.

'After all, I understand crypto, so I can share a lot of insights on what many in crypto are thinking, what direction is easiest, and how to gain the most clients with WLFI. The World Liberty Financial project aims to bridge traditional finance and blockchain, hoping to allow traditional banks to deposit money into DeFi, so that DeFi's funds can also enter traditional finance.

Sun Yuchen stated that he would also persuade Trump to develop DeFi on the TRON platform. In the future, if WDFI issues a new USD stablecoin, he would suggest that it be issued on TRON. Currently, USDT is mostly used on exchanges and for some payments, but it hasn't entered everyone's life yet. 'I believe that with WLFI, we can bring DeFi, including TRON, into everyone's life; this is a dream of mine.'

'I believe 2025 will indeed be a big year. The four-year cycle of the crypto industry is very evident, and now it's overlapping with Trump's election and a regulatory-friendly environment. However, I won't predict prices because they can sometimes exceed your expectations.' Sun Yuchen recalled that he once bought Bitcoin for 0.5 USD on Taobao, and in an era of price insensitivity, when it rose to 10 RMB, everyone thought it was crazy.