Last Friday night, a banana artwork auctioned by Sotheby’s became the target of the meme token $Ban, which emerged from the crowd of AI themes and reached a market value of nearly $20 million within 24 hours.
(Abstract art reappears)
The auction is abstract, and memes follow suit.
(Sotheby’s Vice President playing the market?)
The Vice President’s continuous actions caused the token price to fluctuate.
(High price and deleted tweets led to a sell-off)
The high price and deleted tweets caused a panic sell-off.
(Attending the Binance Conference and changing the avatar, did it boost the token price?)
The token price started to rise again after attending the Binance Conference and changing the avatar.
(Comedian ($Ban) – the protagonist of this article, a leading concept)
Comedian ($Ban) – a concept leader featuring tape and Pepe.
(ANANAB ($ANANAB) – a role reversal with tape wrapped around)
ANANAB ($ANANAB) – a role reversal with tape wrapped around.
(Banana D ($Comedian) – the concept of “banana’s real name”)
Banana D ($Comedian) – the concept of “banana’s real name”.
(Sotheby’s ($Sothebys) – changing the avatar concept)
Sotheby’s ($Sothebys) – changing the avatar concept.
(Summary)
The meme market was not quiet over the weekend. The focus of attention for blockchain players who have been deeply involved in the past two days may not be various AI memes, but a banana artwork re-auctioned by Sotheby’s – the giant banana with tape.
Last Friday night, a banana artwork auctioned by Sotheby’s became the target of the meme token $Ban, which emerged from the crowd of AI themes and reached a market value of nearly $20 million within 24 hours.
Was this a conspiracy or a market-driven speculation? We have compiled some information to help you understand the journey of this magical banana.
(In 2019, Italian artist Cattelan’s tape + banana series of works were auctioned by Sotheby’s. At that time, this banana named “Comedian” was sold for $120,000 and caused a heated discussion on social media.)
At first, this abstract art behavior undoubtedly mocked by society, with comments such as “people are foolish and have too much money” and “respect and blessings” being the main tone. Later on, everyone enjoyed using this banana as a trendy art gag, as reproducing this artwork did not require much cost. A piece of tape + a banana could reproduce the happiness worth $120,000. Even Elon Musk, the head of Tesla, played with this banana gag at the time.
Recently, Sotheby’s announced the re-auction of one of the three “versions” of this artwork, with an estimated auction price between $1 million and $1.5 million (it seems that the art market has also experienced inflation).
How did this banana spread to the meme market? According to my initial impression, around 11 pm on Friday night, a hunter on GMGN.AI revealed that one of the top holders of the banana concept token $Ban on the Solana blockchain was Michael Bouhanna, the Vice President of Sotheby’s, with a holding proportion of 3.78% of the total supply.
Moreover, earlier that day, the Vice President personally tweeted to promote this banana, stating, “For me, this is the most important work of the 21st century.” In addition, he had previously released his own wallet address, which seemed to further confirm the rationality of the “Sotheby’s Vice President personally playing the meme” route.
At that time, the market value of $Ban was around $100,000. As soon as the news came out, the price of $Ban immediately skyrocketed, reaching a market value of up to $7 million within an hour, with a maximum increase of nearly 70 times.
This violent surge of 70 times within an hour brought laughter to the blockchain, but a series of actions by the Vice President caused the token price to fluctuate, and many early players who got in on the action had very few chips left.
To further prove the reliability of the story, some Twitter users asked Michael Bouhanna about the authenticity of the address on Twitter. Perhaps feeling a bit guilty or not wanting to cause unnecessary influence, Michael Bouhanna deleted the tweet announcing his wallet address during the most lively speculation stage.
$Ban immediately experienced a steep decline, with its market value falling from $7 million to around $400,000. While few people knew about the surge, the entire screen was filled with banana jokes when it started to fall.
After a series of twists and turns, the market’s enthusiasm for the big banana speculation gradually cooled down. The token price performed flatly overnight but did not directly approach zero.
During the day, the token price even rose to the previous high for a while, but without any positive news to stimulate it, it gradually fell back. Until around 8 pm in the evening, Vice President Michael Bouhanna announced on Twitter that he would attend the Binance Conference as a high-level representative of Sotheby’s. At the same time, people also noticed that the official account of Sotheby’s changed its avatar to a picture with elements of a tape-wrapped banana.
Stimulated by this series of actions, $Ban’s token price revived on Saturday night. Perhaps the market makers had manipulated the market enough and absorbed enough chips, or perhaps the market’s confidence in the tape-wrapped banana had been further refined. This time, $Ban’s price soared again, continuously breaking the previous high.
As of the time of writing, $Ban’s highest market value had reached $25 million.
Whether it is the upper echelons of the market, the careful manipulation of the market makers, or the acceptance of the banana concept by the market, a market value of $25 million indicates that the banana concept has been preliminarily recognized by the market. Apart from the concept leader, there will also be imitations. Currently, there are various angles to speculate on the banana concept. We have made a small inventory based on market capitalization.
(Note: Meme tokens have high price volatility and carry a high level of risk. Investors should fully assess the risks and participate with caution. This article only shares information based on market trends, and the author and platform do not guarantee the completeness and accuracy of the article’s content. At the same time, this article does not provide any investment advice.)
Contract address: 9PR7nCP9DpcUotnDPVLUBUZKu5WAYkwrCUx9wDnSpump
24-hour trading volume: $33 million
Current market value: $21.6 million
Highest market value: $25 million
Concept protagonist: Comedian banana, token name: $Ban.
Contract address: 9JLsnxCqZju5ymLhMkTW6acnUxgrARqz5NAR7Acdpump
24-hour trading volume: $2.5 million
Current market value: $400,000
Highest market value: $880,000
As soon as a target becomes popular, the stitched oddity arrives, albeit late. When $Ban surged on Saturday night, the plate that hitched on the Pepe + tape concept also experienced a pump, which had a strange angle and showed a conspiracy group flavor in terms of price performance. However, at the time of writing, the price had experienced a significant decline.
Contract address: HaqNyHMwCP1YGCYgjY7kJNVd6gv4mz1Y75A4xKVUpump
24-hour trading volume: $880,000
Current market value: $110,000
Highest market value: $200,000
In contrast to the banana concept on the wall, where a person is wrapped in tape on the wall and the observer is the banana, the image is likely from the initial speculation of the tape-wrapped banana in 2019, mocking those who speculate on bananas.
Contract address: BpqXJMguKsS8azKaVy4tZ4Ysm2e2f2zygZKHx8VKGKBA
24-hour trading volume: $1 million
Current market value: $90,000
Highest market value: $250,000
In contrast to the previous $Ban, this token uses the banana’s real name, Comedian, as the token symbol. Although the angle seems correct, the price performance seems to be lacking.
Contract address: 83UCt6BueiwNE5NKtXyJ5SmRDWFWSzibLaxmV3xapump
24-hour trading volume: $380,000
Current market value: $16,400
Highest market value: $110,000
The concept is simple and easy to understand, but the angle is relatively off, and the price performance is average. GMGN.AI shows a 100% probability of a run-off, suggesting that it is a Dev’s speculative hot spot with low credibility. It is for observation purposes only and not recommended for participation.
After a day of pumping, dumping, and pumping again, $Ban’s market value has far exceeded the estimated auction value of the artwork itself. This “banana fever” has shown a certain trend, and various angles have followed suit. Whether the subsequent heat will spread to Sotheby’s/artwork concept or the banana itself, or even the President himself, we will watch and see.
However, the violent dumping of $Ban in the early stages also indicates that facing an increasingly “smart” market, stepping on the golden dog, holding onto the golden dog, and successfully selling the golden dog are completely independent actions. Each step of the game and execution requires tremendous effort. A high-profit address is often because the “price increase is high” rather than the “position is heavy.” As the saying goes, control your position and emotions, don’t succumb to FOMO, and your own opportunities will always be there.
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