Tons of kids love to draw, paint, and take part in other artistic expressions of self. Chances are that you did when you were a kid too, and maybe you’ve held onto that creative side as an adult. 

But if you’re like most people, you couldn’t imagine selling one of the pieces of art you created as a kid for tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Personally, I sold art to my teachers and parents’ friends, rarely earning more than $10 a piece for works that were probably purchased out of pity. 

What if I told you teenagers were making millions selling their art as NFTs? 

I know, reading the first article I found on the topic nearly floored me, but it’s happening, and likely more often than you think. 

Meet Jaiden Stipp – 15 Year Old NFT Millionaire

Like most young men, 15-year old Jaiden Stipp has a vivid imagination and a love of art. He’s also grown up in the age of technology and enjoys playing video games, connecting with friends on social media, and surfing the web. 

However, unlike most kids, Stipp found that by combining his love for art and his love for technology, he has the ability to make massive amounts of money. 

Naturally tech savvy and looking for a way to get his art out to the masses, Stipp decided that he would use his artwork to create an NFT, the first of which was a digital illustration of an astronaut-like figure waving his hand. 

In an article on Time, Jaiden recalled what happened when his first piece of art sold. He was at a youth group in Tacoma Washington watching a Star Wars movie when the bids started to come in. The first bid was just a fraction of an ethereum coin, which was exciting to Stipp because that fraction of a coin was worth around $300 at the time. 

However, the bids kept rolling in. 

By the time the piece of art sold, Stipp raked in 20ETH, which at the time, worked out to be worth about $30,000. A month later, that same piece of art sold for around $60,000 to the next buyer. 

Stipp remembered telling his dad about his first success as an NFT creator, and like most parents, his dad was stricken with disbelief. In the interview with the time, Jaiden said:

My dad was like, ‘no way this is actual money.’ It seems like it’s a lot of fake money being passed around. So we took some of the money out just to see what’s actually real. And then at the bank… I was like, ‘Whoa!’”

The money had indeed turned out to be real, spendable, cold-hard cash, and Jaiden was hooked. After all, the NFT was worth far more than the $20 to $70 he made creating logos for people he found on Discord. 

Since the sale of his first NFT, Stipp has been developing more and sold an additional 4 works to date. With those four sales, he’s been able to help his parents pay off their house and their cars. The rest of the fortune he’s made selling his art is used to invest in artworks created by other young artists. 

And Jaiden isn’t the only kid making serious money in the NFT space. 

Meet Victor Langlois

The first purchase of digital art Stipp made with the fortune he amassed as a digital artist was developed by Victor Langlois, an 18-year old artist that goes by the name FEWOCiOUS online and yet another young artist that has amassed a fortune in the NFT space. 

Langlois has received multiple critical accolades for his artwork, which are identity focused pieces filled with vibrant colors. In fact, in the NFT world, Langlois has become so popular that when his art went to auction at Christies, the flood of traffic racing to both see and buy it caused the website to crash. 

To date, Langlois has cashed in on more than $18 million in sales of his art in the NFT space. 

Meet Benyamen Ahmed

Benyamen Ahmed is 12 years old, but he’s far from your average 12 year old kid. Like other kids, Benyamen loves to swim. He also spends plenty of time in taekwondo lessons. 

However, what sets him apart from most is his love for coding. 

Any time he has a spare moment, Benyamen finds himself learning more and more about the world of digital development. His passion started when he was just five years old when he started coding after watching his dad work as a web developer. 

As with most coders, albeit most of whom are far older than five years old, Benyamen started by learning HTML and CSS. Shortly after, he decided to expand his knowledge with javascript and a wide range of other codes. 

While this was sure to set him up for a successful future, nobody could have guessed how quickly that success would come for him. 

Recently, NFTs and the smart contracts that power them became the center of the young boy’s attention, and that focus on the industry is starting to pay off in a big way. Speaking to his interest in NFTs, Benyamen told CNBC’s Make It:

“I first learned about NFTs earlier this year. I got fascinated with NFTs because you can easily transfer the ownership of an NFT by the blockchain.”

Early this summer, Benyamen launched his first NFT collection, a collection that consists of 40 colorful pixelated images he dubbed, “Minecraft Yee Haa.” He said he created the collection after spending “too many hours” playing the Minecraft video game. 

While his first NFT collection was far from a big hit, he was fine with it, looking at the collection as a learning experience rather than a way to make money. Nonetheless, he wasn’t hindered from continuing to work within the NFT community, and his next collection, Weird Whales proved to be a huge hit. 

These “Weird Whales” comprise a collection of 3,350 pixelated images of cartoon whales, each with unique characteristics. Once the collection was complete, he put it on the blockchain and the entire collection sold in nine hours, in which time, Benyamen collected a whopping 80ETH, worth more than $225,000.

The wise young digital artist and coder decided to put a 2.5% royalty on his art, which still makes him money to this day. In fact, he’s earned an additional 30ETH, worth about $95,000. Not to mention, his Weird Whales are still heavily traded, which means he keeps making money, which I’m sure will add up to more than a million dollars soon enough. 

Final Thoughts

When new industries emerge, it’s common to see people in those industries making massive amounts of money as pioneers in emerging markets. What’s uncommon is for those people to be teens and preteens. 

Nonetheless, it’s happening, and it’s happening often. 

So, the next time your son or daughter says, “I’m bored,” consider pointing them in the direction of digital art and finding out if they’re the next NFT millionaire.