When Meme Coins Encounter Art Sothebys Vice President Leads the Charge BAN Reaches Nearly 100 Million Market Cap
Five years ago, a banana taped to a wall went viral worldwide. This was actually an artwork titled “Comedian,” which sold for $120,000 in 2019. On the 25th of this month, Michael Bouhanna, vice president of Sotheby’s, was found to have created a token called “Comedian(BAN)” at his personal address. This news spread rapidly on Twitter, and the token’s market value reached as high as $100 million. However, after Michael Bouhanna deleted the public address post, the token plummeted by 80% in a short time. Nevertheless, Michael Bouhanna will be attending Binance Blockchain Week in Dubai at the end of the month, and there may still be room for speculation on this topic before then.
The globally popular banana was eaten twice during its exhibition.
The artwork titled “Comedian” was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and is composed solely of duct tape and a banana. During its exhibition in Miami in 2019, it was publicly eaten, and it was eaten again by university students during its exhibition in Seoul in 2023. Both individuals claimed this was performance art. Recently, Sotheby’s has also re-listed the artwork, with Michael Bouhanna stating on Twitter that the valuation is expected to soar from the original $120,000 five years ago to between $1 million and $1.5 million (approximately NT$32 million to NT$48 million).
Will the related topic continue to generate hype as Sotheby’s vice president attends Binance Blockchain Week?
Although the post has been deleted, Michael Bouhanna’s address has been widely circulated. The comparison with the creator of the Ban token is also consistent. 
The token was created on the 25th, coinciding with the re-listing of “Comedian” at Sotheby’s. Additionally, Michael Bouhanna is set to join Binance Blockchain Week at the end of the month, sharing the stage on the 30th with the theme “When Culture Meets Web3,” alongside teams from Sandbox, Doodles, and Memeland. Therefore, I believe there may be speculation surrounding the related topic. Furthermore, upon observing Michael Bouhanna’s address, it is evident that many imitation tokens have also been sent to him. Among them, the most popular, Banana Tape Wall (BTW), even sent 35% to Michael Bouhanna. Another token, Dmitri Cherniak (Ringers), has already been significantly offloaded.
