Meet the eight-year-old NFT artist who will launch Banana Eats

TThe project, called Banana Eats, is a collaboration between Davis and his father Scott and was inspired by a puzzle of the same name on Roblox, a popular online platform for gamers. It also happens to be one of eight-year-old Davis Cunningham’s favorite games.

To create the NFTs, Davis drew 90 attributes with crayons, and Scott worked with an artist to turn them into digital cartoon reproductions. The duo plans to release 2014 NFTs on July 22. The number 2014 is significant because it is Davis’ year of birth, but also because it is the year Kailash Satyarthi received the Nobel Peace Prize. Satyarthi started the Satyarthi Foundation to help save children from slavery or human trafficking. Of the funds raised from Banana Eats, 25 percent will be donated to Satyarthi’s foundation.

Most adults do not fully understand the blockchain, so it may seem like a lot for an eight-year-old to take in, but Davis has had a few years to learn it, looking over his father’s shoulder as his father dives into the world of cryptocurrency. , blockchain and NFTs.

“When my dad started getting more into it, he started telling me about it and showed me the NFTs he bought,” says Davis. ‘You do not have to be an age. There is no one too young to [start looking at NFTs]. “

His father agrees. The younger generations are more inclined to success than generations before them, he says.

“I think the generation gap is quite significant. When Davis wants something for his birthday, he wants to buy a leather on Fortnite or buy Robux (money on Roblox), “says Scott Cunningham. “For me, when I was growing up, I did not care about those things. I just wanted to play the game. So there is already an understanding of owning a digital good that is widespread in their generation, as well as connecting people and concepts in a digital way that we did not have growing up. “

Still, Davis says none of his friends know about cryptocurrency – probably for good reason. The cryptocurrency world can be full of scams, blankets and deceptions. In UNICEF’s “Prospects for Children” report from 2022, the UN agency stated that “while we wait to see what direction these trends take us, the implications for children hang in the balance … Now is the time to start including cryptocurrency and digital currency child safety measures in online child welfare initiatives. “

The Cointelegraph reported that UNICEF’s policy specialist Melvin Breton Guerrero, who wrote the part of the report on cryptocurrency, wants to see age restrictions for cryptocurrency.

Although some cryptocurrency exchanges such as Coinbase require users to be at least 18 years old, Scott believes that children can still get involved in the artistic aspects of NFTs, play to make money and learn about new technologies without risking their own money.

“Maybe it’s just about art for some people. Maybe it’s a play-to-earn. It’s money because money is cool, right? I think there are many places you can talk to at a basic level that will build that interest, he says.

Scott sees another benefit with Banana Eats. He works with non-profit organizations and has pressured many of them to integrate web3 into their businesses.

“Most of these organizations are older … and they do not understand it, so they have pushed themselves very hard,” he says.

If he is able to show what an eight year old can do with web3, it can change that conversation. Not that it has gotten any easier in recent months. More than $ 2 trillion in value has been erased in recent months, according to CNBC, as Bitcoin fell to around $ 20,000 from peaks of over $ 60,000 – almost all mainstream cryptocurrencies have felt the blow. NFT projects have also seen mainstream interest fall sharply as the speculative assets have fallen in price.

Interest in NFT peaked in January, according to Google Trends, which tracks the number of google searches for specific topics. By June, interest had fallen 79 percent.

For those who believe in blockchain and web3 technology, there is hope that this period will only be a sting on the radar.

“I think what resonates with pretty much everyone is: If you say, ‘Do you want to get into crypto or web3 earlier?’ I do not think anyone is going to say no. Everyone should wish they bought Bitcoin in 2012. Everyone should wish they bought Ethereum in 2015, 2016, says Scott. “So I think that’s one of the main reasons why I think it’s important to at least expose young people to these groundbreaking new technologies. You can expose your youth to Ripple or something like that – and maybe in five years it will not be there – but that technology is linked to everything else, so you have only one basis. I think it’s just starting somewhere that’s important. “