Original | Odaily Planet Daily（@OdailyChina）
Author | Asher（@Asher_ 0210 ）
This morning, Justin Sun announced that he bought Maurizio Cattelan's iconic work "Comedian" for $6.2 million, and commented that "this is not just an artwork, it represents a cultural phenomenon, connecting the worlds of art, Meme and the cryptocurrency community, and I believe this work will inspire more thinking and discussion, and become a part of history."
Sotheby's Cattelan banana auction scene
As soon as this news was released, according to GMGN data, the Meme Token Ban, which was launched on Binance with the Cattelan banana as the background, rose about 20% in 5 minutes, with a market value briefly exceeding $230 million, but may be affected by the overall price correction of the Meme sector, and Ban has now fallen back to $175 million.
Previously, Elon Musk reposted on X a photo of a large Banana sculpture alongside the SpaceX Starship, and responded with a "laughing" emoji, which may have contributed to the nearly 20% short-term rise in Ban.
Elon Musk reposted on X a photo of a large Banana sculpture alongside the SpaceX Starship
In addition, GSR Markets may be a market maker for the Meme Token BAN.According to on-chain analyst Ai Aunt's monitoring, the GSR wallet GNjGn...4iBW4 (marked by Arkham) withdrew 1.5 million BAN from Gate and MEXC on November 18, and then partially deposited them into Kucoin; the wallet G13si...zWCdu deposited $2.28 million worth of BAN into GATE, with the SOL required for the transfer provided by GSR.
Withdrew 1.5 million BAN from Gate and MEXC, and then partially deposited them into Kucoin
By riding on the Sotheby's auction, riding on the SpaceX Starship, listing on Binance, and GSR Markets making a market, the Meme Token Ban has frequently generated high heat and attention, accumulating multiple buffs. What is the potential of Ban going forward? Next, Odaily Planet Daily will take you to explore the origins and development of Ban.
Sotheby's Vice President Issued a Meme Token Ban from His Personal Address, and Was Caught
On the evening of October 25, Sotheby's Vice President Michael Bouhanna posted on the X platform to announce that the artwork "banana and duct tape" would be auctioned at Sotheby's, and then users found that he had issued the related Meme Token Ban from his personal address, with the market value quickly soaring to $7 million.
Michael Bouhanna stated that the artwork "banana and duct tape" would be auctioned at Sotheby's
However, Michael Bouhanna later deleted the post about his personal address, causing Ban to drop 85% in a short period of time. But Ban is a Meme Token with the concept of art and fruit, and the community quickly spread the word, and its market value also continued to rise.
Data monitored by Lookonchain on October 27 showed that a user made a profit of $873,000 by trading Ban with $1,795 in just two days, a return rate of 490 times. He did not panic and sell all his assets at once, but gradually sold a portion after each increase to avoid missing the rebound.
But on October 27, according to Lookonchain's monitoring, Sotheby's Vice President Michael Bouhanna used his own wallet "5W7U...b3cV" (which he had previously publicly commented was his personal address, but this post has been deleted) to launch a Meme Token called Ban, and although he was forced to burn all 37.36 million Ban in the wallet due to pressure, analysis found that he had used his internal wallet to buy Ban and made a profit of over $1 million. After this news spread, Ban's market value plummeted from a high of $100 million to $10 million in the following two days, a maximum drop of 90%.
Sotheby's Vice President: It was a project I deployed, but I never sold
A week later, the main character admitted that Ban was a project he personally deployed. On November 4, Sotheby's Vice President Michael Bouhanna posted on the X platform that recent rumors about his creation of the meme token BAN have been circulating on the internet, leading to a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation.
And Bouhanna clarified that the BAN token was a project he initiated out of personal interest on the Pump.Fun platform, and it was completely unrelated to his position at Sotheby's, and Sotheby's was not involved. The project was initially published anonymously, and the rapid growth driven by the community was not expected, nor was any promotion or encouragement of others to buy it done. Bouhanna pointed out that the idea of Ban came from his understanding of the "Comedian" artwork, using the token to make a satirical comment on the meme-driven cryptocurrency market. In addition, he emphasized that the recent rumors that he had made a profit of $1 million from the project were completely untrue, the related wallets were not his, and the vast majority of the earnings were unrealized gains.
With this, after Michael Bouhanna's acknowledgment, the discussion atmosphere in the Ban community became more lively, and the community came up with many "ideas" to promote Ban. On the one hand, the Ban token is an interesting experiment in capital on-chain, with the connotation of world art and culture, and it is itself a "banana"; on the other hand, the Ban token also represents the beginning of a new round of Meme, which will bring more Web2 traffic to Web3.
Is Ban still worth a shot?
Today, with Justin Sun successfully bidding for "Comedian", the short-term hype heat may decline significantly, and in the past few days, most popular Meme Tokens have seen price corrections of over 30%, with high uncertainty in the current trend direction.
But as a Meme Token, the "banana on the wall" image can easily spread Ban. And Ban, which has ridden on both the "Sotheby's auction" and the "SpaceX Starship", has a sustained heat of discussion, and is likely to be mentioned again in the future. Therefore, in my personal opinion, Ban is worth adding to the "self-selected Meme observation list", and closely monitoring the addresses with large buy-ins of Ban every day, as there may be an opportunity for a "second boarding" entry point.
