The wild world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain is a twisted vortex of digital money, complex computing and fast trades. It is not the obvious place to nurture creative talent in children – and yet for Emmy, seven, and Jack, five, it has become the home of their virtual art gallery.

Their art exists online as NFTs – or non-fungible tokens. These are essentially digital certificates that denote ownership of physical or virtual assets stored on the “blockchain” – a digital ledger. These tokens can be bought and sold using cryptocurrency.

Investors buy them in the hope their value will increase, as with trading cards or traditional art. But it is an even less regulated market than the world of crypto and is equally vulnerable to its wild price swings. Meanwhile, NFT creators – including the youngsters behind them – have made a mint.

Emmy’s biggest sale so far has been her portrait of deadmau5, a Canadian DJ, who bought the digital art in a transaction worth almost $4,000 (£2,900). Her father, Ben Wilson*, knew nothing of the world of NFTs until his brother, who works as a professional artist, introduced him to OpenSea, an online trading platform for the tokens.