A conceptual artwork by Maurizio Cattelan, “Comedian,” is just a fruit-stand banana taped on the wall. But 7 bidders were biting. It went to a crypto entrepreneur.

Turns out that crypto bros love “Comedian,” Maurizio Cattelan’s now-infamous work consisting of a banana with duct tape, a spoof of art-world capitalism.

Maurizio Cattelan's "Comedian," a banana duct-taped to a wall, was sold at Sotheby's in New York on Wednesday for $6.2 million.

A piece of art that is little more than a banana duct-taped to a wall sold at auction for $6.2 million on Wednesday to cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun, Sotheby's said, furthering the universal conversation about what constitutes art.

This year has seen some of the worst sales in decades for the art market, and the “Comedian” piece is unlikely to move the needle one way or the other.

It was a banana with a back story. The spectacle on Wednesday evening, when a Sotheby’s auctioneer in Manhattan warned potential bidders not to let Maurizio Cattelan’s fruity artwork “slip away,” ended with a duct-taped banana selling for an astonishing $6.

Comedian,” by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, was a phenomenon when it debuted in 2019 at Art Basel Miami Beach.

Why it matters: "Comedian" sold for $6.2 million at auction this week — a ludicrous price for a banana, but a perfectly normal price for a major piece of contemporary art. The big picture: Comedy has always struggled with being taken seriously,