The Teen Dropping $20M in NFTs

The artist Victor Langlois, who goes by FEWOCiOUS, sold his first painting for $90 in 2020, when he was 17 years old. Just two years later, after pivoting to sell his work as non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, he has amassed $50 million in lifetime sales.

In April, FEWOCiOUS released his “Paint” generative art collection, featuring images of paint drops with a backdrop of the sky. As a part of his effort to build out his “digital universe” called FewoWorld, he sold $20 million of these NFTs over the course of 24 hours. According to data from NFT marketplace OpenSea, the 7,000-unit collection currently has a 2,450 ETH trading volume, or $2,980,058, with a floor price of 0.4 ETH, or $487.

These prices are a 1,000% increase over his debut NFT collection in 2021, “Pride Month,” which sold for $2.2 million at Christie’s auction house.

In October, FEWOCiOUS created an NFT for the “Bowie On The Blockchain” collection that David Bowie’s estate released in partnership with OpenSea. FEWOCiOUS’ NFT, featuring an animated clip of the singer paired with a physical sculpture of the pop legend, fetched the highest price in the collection, selling for 96.5 ETH, or about $127,000,

Now 19 and based in New York, FEWOCiOUS draws inspiration for his works from his life experiences. As a transgender teenager, he fled an abusive household and found art as an outlet of self-expression. He’s not only an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community but the NFT art community amid a period where marketplaces are moving to stop requiring creator royalties.

In November, the artist shared a letter to OpenSea on Twitter, asking the platform to consider the implications of dropping royalty requirements.

Dear @opensea pic.twitter.com/dkHF2JlbVC

— FEWOCiOUS (@fewocious) November 7, 2022

“Royalties were the reason the art community flocked to NFTs in the first place,” wrote Langlois. “Cutting artist royalties is backward progress for artists and the community at large.”