Both riding on "Sotheby's Auction" and "SpaceX Starship."
Written by: Asher, Odaily Planet Daily
This morning, Sun Yuchen announced the purchase of Maurizio Cattelan's iconic work "Comedian" for $6.2 million, commenting that "this is not just a piece of art; it represents a cultural phenomenon that connects the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community. I believe this work will inspire more thoughts and discussions in the future and become a part of history."
Sotheby's Cattelan banana auction site
As soon as this news broke, according to GMGN data, the meme coin Ban, which is based on Cattelan's banana and launched on Binance contracts, surged about 20% in five minutes, with its market cap briefly exceeding $230 million. However, affected by the overall price correction in the meme sector, Ban has currently fallen back to $175 million.
Ban K-line chart
Previously, Elon Musk retweeted a photo posted by Polaris's content director featuring a large banana sculpture alongside the SpaceX Starship on X, responding with a "laugh-cry" emoji. This may have contributed to Ban's temporary surge of nearly 20%.
Elon Musk retweeted a photo of a large banana sculpture alongside the SpaceX Starship
Additionally, GSR Markets may be the market maker for the meme token BAN. According to on-chain analyst Ai Yi's monitoring, the GSR wallet GNjGn…4iBW4 (marked by Arkham) withdrew 1.5 million BAN from Gate and MEXC on November 18, with some of it later deposited into Kucoin; the wallet G13si…zWCdu deposited $2.28 million worth of BAN into GATE, with the required SOL for the transfer provided by GSR.
Withdrawing 1.5 million BAN from Gate and MEXC, with some later deposited into Kucoin
Riding on Sotheby's auction, leveraging the SpaceX Starship, launching on Binance, and GSR Markets as a market maker, the meme coin Ban frequently generates high heat and attention, gathering multiple buffs. What is its potential for the future? Next, Odaily Planet Daily will explore the ins and outs of Ban.
Sotheby's Vice President Posts Meme Coin Ban from Personal Address, Caught
On the evening of October 25, Sotheby's Vice President Michael Bouhanna announced on X that the artwork "banana and duct tape" would be auctioned at Sotheby's. Shortly after, users discovered that his posted personal address had issued the related meme coin Ban, causing its market cap to rapidly rise to $7 million.
Michael Bouhanna announced 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% temporarily. Nevertheless, Ban, being a meme coin with the concept of art and fruit, quickly spread within the community, and its market cap continued to climb.
Lookonchain's data monitored on October 27 showed that a user turned $1,795 into $873,000 by trading Ban in just two days, achieving a return rate of up to 490 times. He did not panic-sell all his assets at once but gradually sold a portion after each rise to avoid missing out on the rebound.
However, on October 27, according to Lookonchain's monitoring, Sotheby's Vice President Michael Bouhanna used his wallet "5W7U…b3cV" (which he had publicly commented on as his personal address, and the post has since been deleted) to launch a meme coin called Ban. Although he was pressured to destroy all 37.36 million Ban in his wallet, analysis revealed that he had purchased Ban using an internal wallet and profited over $1 million. After this news spread, Ban's market cap fell from a peak of $100 million to $10 million in the following two days, with a maximum drop of over 90%.
Sotheby's Vice President: It’s a project I deployed, but I never sold
A week later, the principal admitted that Ban was a project he personally deployed. On November 4, Sotheby's Vice President Michael Bouhanna posted on X, stating that recent rumors about the meme token BAN he created had flooded the internet, leading to widespread misunderstandings and false information.
He clarified that the BAN token was a project he initiated out of interest on the Pump.Fun platform, completely unrelated to his position at Sotheby's, and that Sotheby's was not involved. The project was initially released anonymously, and he did not anticipate the rapid growth driven by the community, nor did he promote or encourage others to buy. Bouhanna pointed out that the idea for Ban came from his understanding of the "Comedian" artwork, using the token to make a satirical comment on the meme-driven crypto market. Additionally, he emphasized that recent rumors claiming he profited $1 million from the project were entirely false, that the related wallet was not his, and that the vast majority of the earnings were unrealized value.
As a result, with Michael Bouhanna's acknowledgment, the discussion atmosphere in the Ban community became even more lively, generating many "ideas" for Ban's spread. On one hand, the Ban token represents an interesting experiment in capital on-chain, with connotations of global art culture, and it is itself "a banana," a new meme coin with the concept of artwork + fruit; on the other hand, the Ban token also signifies the beginning of a new round of memes, bringing more Web2 traffic to Web3.
Is it still worth investing in Ban?
Today, with Sun Yuchen successfully bidding for "Comedian," the short-term hype may see a significant decline, and in recent days, most popular memes have experienced price corrections of over 30%. The current trend direction is highly uncertain.
However, as a meme coin, the image of "a banana taped to a wall" easily spreads Ban. Moreover, with Ban riding on both "Sotheby's auction" and "SpaceX Starship," it maintains a sustained discussion heat, making it likely to be mentioned again in the future. Therefore, for me personally, Ban is worth adding to the "watchlist of meme coins," keeping an eye on and analyzing large purchases of Ban daily, as there may be opportunities for a "second entry."
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