Sotheby's Banana Art Fetches Over $10 Million—Is the Meme Sector Getting Into Fine Art? | Today's Meme Perspective
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Sotheby's Banana Art Fetches Over $10 Million—Is the Meme Sector Getting Into Fine Art? | Today's Meme Perspective
This is too artistic.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsThe meme market wasn't lonely over the weekend. In recent days, what's been capturing the attention of deeply engaged on-chain players may not be various AI memes, but a piece of artwork being re-auctioned by Sotheby’s—the duct-taped banana.
On Friday night, a meme token $Ban, inspired by the banana artwork auctioned at Sotheby’s, broke through the crowd of AI-themed tokens, reaching nearly $20 million in market cap within 24 hours of launch.
Is this a temporary whim by some conspiracy group or a new speculative target organically chosen by the market? We’ve compiled some information to help you quickly understand the journey of this magical big banana’s price surge.
The Abstract Artwork Makes a Comeback
Back in 2019, Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's series featuring a banana taped to a wall was auctioned by Sotheby’s. That piece, titled “Comedian,” sold for $120,000 and sparked heated discussion on social media.
Initially, this abstract art act undoubtedly drew widespread mockery, with comments like "rich fools" and "respectfully sending blessings" dominating. But later, people began embracing the banana as a trendy internet meme—after all, replicating the artwork costs almost nothing: just a strip of duct tape and a banana could recreate $120,000 worth of fun. Even Doge lord Musk joined in on the joke:
Recently, Sotheby’s announced it would re-auction one of three “versions” of this work, with an estimated price between $1 million and $1.5 million (seems the art market isn’t immune to inflation).
The Auction Is Absurd—And So Are the Memes
Is a Sotheby’s VP Running the Scheme?
So how did this banana infect the meme market? According to our initial impression, around 11 PM on Friday, on-chain hunters noticed that GMGN.AI showed one of the top holders of the Solana-based banana-themed token $Ban was Michael Bouhanna (@michaelbouhanna), Vice President of Sotheby’s, holding 3.78% of the total supply.
Earlier that day, the VP had personally tweeted about the banana, calling it “the most important work of the 21st century.” And since he’d previously revealed his wallet address, this seemed to further validate the narrative of a “Sotheby’s VP directly pumping a meme coin.”
At the time, $Ban’s market cap was around $100,000. Once the news broke, the token surged immediately, hitting nearly $7 million in market cap within an hour—a gain of almost 70x.
VP Keeps Making Moves—Price Rides a Rollercoaster
The wild 70x surge brought joy across the blockchain, but then the VP’s series of controversial moves sent the price swinging wildly, leaving many early investors with little to show.
Panic sell-off after deleting tweet
To verify the story, a Twitter user asked Michael Bouhanna if the wallet address was really his. Perhaps feeling uneasy or wanting to avoid unnecessary fallout, Michael deleted his earlier tweet revealing the wallet during the peak of the hype.
$Ban immediately plunged in a panic sell-off, dropping from $7 million to around $400,000 in market cap. Few knew when it was rising—but when it started falling, $Ban banana jokes flooded every screen.
Attends Binance event, official account changes profile picture—price recovers?
After all the chaos, market enthusiasm for the big banana gradually cooled. The token traded flat overnight, but didn’t crash to zero.
During the day, the price briefly rebounded to previous highs before fading again without fresh catalysts. Then around 8 PM, Michael Bouhanna announced on Twitter that he would attend the Binance event in his capacity as a Sotheby’s executive. Meanwhile, users noticed Sotheby’s official account had changed its profile picture to one featuring the duct-taped banana.
These moves revived $Ban on Saturday night. Whether the alleged “whale” used the dip to accumulate more tokens, or whether renewed confidence in the duct-tape banana strengthened market consensus, the price of $Ban surged again, breaking past previous highs.
At the time of writing, $Ban’s peak market cap has reached $25 million.
The Legendary Pump Is Here—A Tour of Banana-Themed Meme Plays
Whether driven by market mania or careful manipulation by insiders, a $25 million market cap shows the banana concept has gained initial market recognition. Besides the leader, copycats are inevitable. What angles are currently being played? TechFlow presents a quick overview based on market cap rankings.
Note: Meme tokens are highly volatile and carry extreme risk. Investors should fully assess risks and proceed with caution. This article merely shares information based on current market trends. The author and platform make no guarantees regarding the completeness or accuracy of the content, and this article does not constitute any investment advice.
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Comedian ($Ban) – The Main Character, Concept Leader
Contract Address: 9PR7nCP9DpcUotnDPVLUBUZKu5WAYkwrCUx9wDnSpump
24H Volume: $33 million
Current Market Cap: $21.6 million
Peak Market Cap: $25 million
The star of the show: the Comedian banana, token symbol $Ban.
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Comedian ($Pan) – “Duct Tape + Pepe” Concept, Pure Mashup
Contract Address: 9JLsnxCqZju5ymLhMkTW6acnUxgrARqz5NAR7Acdpump
24H Volume: $2.5 million
Current Market Cap: $400,000
Peak Market Cap: $880,000
Once a theme catches fire, meme Frankenstein projects follow. On Saturday night, as $Ban surged, this Pepe + duct tape mashup also pumped hard. The angle is bizarre, and the price action suggests heavy manipulation.
At press time, the price has seen a sharp pullback.
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ANANAB ($ANANAB) – Role Reversal: Human Taped, Banana Watching
Contract Address: HaqNyHMwCP1YGCYgjY7kJNVd6gv4mz1Y75A4xKVUpump
24H Volume: $880,000
Current Market Cap: $110,000
Peak Market Cap: $200,000
Opposite to the original banana-on-wall concept, here a person is taped to the wall while a banana observes. The image likely originated during the 2019 banana炒作, mocking those speculating on the artwork.
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Banana D ($Comedian) – Playing on the Artwork’s “Real Name”
Contract Address: BpqXJMguKsS8azKaVy4tZ4Ysm2e2f2zygZKHx8VKGKBA
24H Volume: $1 million
Current Market Cap: $90,000
Peak Market Cap: $250,000
In contrast to leading token $Ban, this one uses “Comedian”—the artwork’s actual title—as its ticker. The angle seems logical, but judging by price action, it hasn’t resonated with traders.
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Sotheby' ($Sothebys) – Betting on the Profile Picture Change
Contract Address: 83UCt6BueiwNE5NKtXyJ5SmRDWFWSzibLaxmV3xapump
24H Volume: $380,000
Current Market Cap: $16,400
Peak Market Cap: $110,000
Simple and straightforward concept, but a bit off-center. Price performance is mediocre. GMGN.AI shows a 100% probability of rug pull, suggesting this is likely a dev-made quick cash grab riding the hype. For observation only—do not participate.
Summary
After a day of pump, dump, and repump, $Ban’s market cap has far exceeded the valuation of the original artwork. This “banana fever” has taken shape, with various spin-offs jumping on the trend. Whether the momentum will extend to Sotheby’s/art concepts, bananas themselves, or even the executive involved, remains to be seen.
However, $Ban’s violent shakeout in early stages shows that in today’s increasingly “smart” markets, identifying a gem, holding onto it, and successfully exiting for profit are now entirely separate challenges. Each step demands intense focus and skill. High-profit addresses often succeed not because of large positions, but because of sufficient upside. As always: manage your position size and emotions, avoid FOMO, and remember—your next opportunity is always just around the corner.
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