Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
Author | Asher (@Asher_0210)
This morning, Justin Sun announced that he had purchased Maurizio Cattelan’s iconic work “Comedian” for $6.2 million, and commented that “This is not just a work of art, it represents a cultural phenomenon that connects the worlds of art, meme, and cryptocurrency communities. I believe this work will inspire more thinking and discussion in the future and become part of history.”
Sotheby's Cattelan Banana Auction
As soon as the news came out, according to GMGN data, the Meme coin Ban, which has the Cattelan banana as its background and is listed on Binance contracts, rose by about 20% in five minutes, and its market value exceeded US$230 million in the short term. However, perhaps affected by the overall price correction of the Meme sector, Ban has now fallen back to US$175 million.
Ban candlestick chart
Earlier, Elon Musk forwarded a photo posted by Polaris' content director on X showing a large Banana figurine and a SpaceX starship in the same frame, and responded with a "laughing and crying" emoji. Perhaps affected by this, Ban rose by nearly 20% in a short period of time.
Elon Musk retweeted a photo of a large Banana figurine and a SpaceX starship on X
In addition, GSR Markets may be a market maker for Meme token BAN. According to on-chain analyst Ai Yi’s monitoring, GSR wallet GNjGn...4iBW4 (Arkham marked) withdrew 1.5 million BAN from Gate and MEXC on November 18, and then partially recharged it to Kucoin; wallet G13si...zWCdu recharged BAN worth $2.28 million to GATE, and the SOL required for the transfer was provided by GSR.
1.5 million BAN were withdrawn from Gate and MEXC, and then part of them were deposited into Kucoin
Memecoin Bans frequently attract high attention and attention, including Sotheby's auctions, Space X starship launches, Binance listings, GSR Markets market making, etc. With multiple buffs, how much will it last? Next, Odaily Planet Daily will take you to explore the ins and outs of Bans.
Sotheby’s Vice President Posted Meme CoinBan on His Personal Address and Got Caught
On the evening of October 25, Michael Bouhanna, Vice President of Sotheby’s, announced on the X platform that the artwork “banana and duct tape” would be auctioned at Sotheby’s. Later, users discovered that the personal address he published had issued the related Meme coin Ban, and its market value quickly rose to US$7 million in the short term.
Michael Bouhanna says the artwork "banana and duct tape" will be auctioned at Sotheby's
But then, Michael Bouhanna deleted his personal address post, causing Ban to fall 85% in a short period of time. However, Ban is a meme coin with the concept of art and fruit, and the community spread it all at once, and its market value continued to rise.
Data monitored by Lookonchain on October 27 showed that a user traded Ban for $1,795 in just two days and earned $873,000, with a return rate of 490 times. He did not sell all his assets at once in a panic, but gradually sold part of them after each rise to avoid missing the rebound.
But on October 27, according to Lookonchain monitoring, Michael Bouhanna, vice president of Sotheby's, used his wallet "5W7U...b3cV" (he once publicly commented that the address was a personal address, and the post has been deleted) to launch a meme coin called Ban. Although he had destroyed all 37.36 million Ban in the wallet under pressure, analysis found that he bought Ban with an internal wallet and made a profit of more than $1 million. After the news spread, the market value of Ban fell from a peak of $100 million to $10 million in the following two days, with the maximum drop exceeding 90%.
Sotheby's Vice President: It was a project I deployed, but I never sold it
A week later, the original owner admitted that Ban was a project he personally deployed. On November 4, Michael Bouhanna, vice president of Sotheby's, posted on the X platform that recent rumors about the meme token BAN he created have flooded the Internet, leading to a lot of misunderstandings and the spread of false information.
Moreover, Bouhanna clarified that the BAN token was a project he personally initiated on the Pump.Fun platform out of interest, and had nothing to do with his position at Sotheby's, and Sotheby's was not involved. The project was initially released anonymously, and the rapid growth driven by the community was not anticipated, and no promotion or encouragement was made to others to buy it. Bouhanna pointed out that the idea of Ban came from his understanding of "Comedian" artworks, and the token was used to make ironic comments on the meme-driven crypto market. In addition, he emphasized that recent rumors that he had made a profit of $1 million from the project were completely untrue, the relevant wallets were not owned by him, and most of the gains were unrealized value.
Therefore, after being recognized by Michael Bouhanna, the discussion atmosphere in the Ban community became more lively, and many "ideas" were thought of for the spread of Ban. On the one hand, the Ban token is an interesting experiment in capital chain, with world art and cultural connotations, and it is "a banana" itself, a brand new Meme coin with the concept of art + fruit; on the other hand, the Ban token also represents the beginning of a new round of Meme, bringing more Web2 traffic to Web3.
Ban Is it still worth it now?
With Justin Sun’s successful bid for “Comedian” today, short-term speculation may decline significantly, and most of the popular memes have seen a price correction of more than 30% in recent days, and the current trend direction is highly uncertain.
But as a meme coin, the "banana on the wall" image can easily spread Ban. Moreover, Ban, which has been mentioned in both the "Sotheby's auction" and the "SpaceX starship", has a hot topic of continuous discussion and is likely to be mentioned again in the future. Therefore, for me personally, Ban is worth adding to the "self-selected Meme Watch List". Pay more attention to and analyze the addresses that buy Ban in large amounts every day, and there may be a "second-time boarding" opportunity point.
