This 12-year-old genius has sold nearly $4 million in NFTs and made history

Nyla Hayes is the creator of the Long Neckie Collection, a non-fungible token (NFT) collection worth about $3.4 million in digital currency. Hayes says she started drawing at the age of 4 and when she was 9 years old, her parents got her a smartphone to make digital art.

She made drawings of people with long necks and called them Long Neckies. Her drawings feature diverse women with elongated necks inspired by her favorite dinosaur, the Brontosaurus.

Hayes was introduced to NFTs by her uncle. She also watched YouTube videos to learn how to create and sell them. Soon, people were buying NFTs of her Long Neckies. Since March, she has sold more than 960 ETH, that is, $3.4 million in digital currency.

“I started drawing at 4. When I was 9, my parents got me a smartphone to make digital art. I made drawings of people with long necks, which I call Long Neckies,” she told Time Kids.

“This past March, my uncle told my mom about NFTs. We watched YouTube to learn how to create and sell them. Soon, people were buying NFTs of my Long Neckies. I have made more than 960 ETH. (That’s digital currency worth about $3.4 million.)”

Hayes will also serve as the first-ever Artist-in-Residence for TIMEPieces. TIMEPieces is a recently launched web3 community initiative from TIME.

According to TIMEPieces, an Artist-in-Residence provides artists with the essentials needed to advance their careers through NFTs. “These Artist-in-Residence collections will continue to allow TIME to bring art on to the blockchain that marries the artist’s signature style with a renowned TIME franchise,” Time explained.

“This extends TIME’s nearly 100-year tradition of highlighting great artists and photographers of a given era while leading the brand into new innovative spaces—in this case NFT’s and Web3.”

In addition, Artists will receive the opportunity to release/drop their work to the TIMEPieces community of collectors and maintain an ongoing and direct relationship with them, engage with artistic peers and leaders in the field—both NFT and traditional—as well as reach new audiences through TIME’s global readership.

“Since launching Long Neckie Ladies, Nyla has inspired many individuals within the NFT community and established herself as a leader amongst the next generation of emerging artists,” Keith A. Grossman, President, TIME, stated. “We are thrilled to announce her as our first Artist-in-Residence for TIMEPieces and are excited to see how she applies her talent to our brand.”

According to Time, Hayes’ collection will drop on November 17, 2021, for holders of TIMEPieces and TIMECats.

NFTs, or nonfungible tokens, are unique assets that cannot be replaced with something else and are verified and stored using blockchain technology, according to CNBC. They include anything, from digital artwork, website domain to music. In the third quarter of 2021, the NFT market exceeded $10 billion in transaction volume, records cited by CNBC show.