Crypto Community Mourns Passing of RTFKT Co-Founder Benoit Pagotto

Benoît Pagotto, co-founder of the digital fashion studio RTFKT, has reportedly passed away at the age of 41, according to colleagues' confirmations.

Philippe Rodriguez, a French tech executive and longtime associate, first shared word of Pagotto’s “sudden” passing on LinkedIn early Sunday in Paris.

Pagotto was “super creative, discreet and humble,” and was “passionate but always reasonable,” a translation of Rodriguez’s post reads.

“He believed that beauty could change the world,” Rodriguez wrote.

Tributes from close friends and associates quickly filled the crypto Twitter sphere.

RTFKT co-founder Steven Vasilev commented on the news on X, writing that “the vision, mission and inspiration [Benoît] gave to the world will live on forever.”

Former RTFKT CTO Samuel Cardillo remembered Pagotto as “a grumpy Parisian cliché, an asshole and genius” who spoke his mind “without filters.” To Cardillo, Pagotto was “a unique human being,” adding that he hoped his dear friend would “respawn as a badass mean crow.”

Bored Ape Yacht Club co-founder Greg Solano, known online as Garga.eth, wrote that Pagotto was “one of the kindest, funniest people I met in crypto,” recalling how he offered help “when we were nobodies” and stayed genuine even after success. Solano added that he would miss Pagotto’s “big, boisterous laugh you could hear from across a restaurant.”

Defining moments

Known for merging luxury design, gaming, and crypto culture, Pagotto helped transform RTFKT into one of the defining digital-asset brands of the last bull run. Founded in 2020 with Chris Le and Vasilev, the studio rose to prominence through virtual sneakers and collectibles, including the Clone X × Takashi Murakami series.

Nike acquired RTFKT in December 2021, and under Pagotto’s creative direction, it explored physical-linked NFTs and digital drops that bridged sneaker culture with on-chain identity. Although Nike began winding down RTFKT operations late last year, Pagotto continued to speak publicly on behalf of the brand.

In April, images for several of its Ethereum-based collections briefly disappeared after a cloud-hosting failure disrupted off-chain storage links. 

The issue, later described by RTFKT’s then–chief of technology Cardillo as a “temporary infrastructure problem,” exposed how centralized dependencies undercut the permanence RTFKT once promised.

In the same month, RTFKT and its parent company were hit with a $5 million class-action lawsuit from NFT holders who accused Nike of misleading buyers about the long-term value of their tokens. 

The federal complaint alleged that Nike touted RTFKT’s NFTs as premium investments, then abandoned them by shutting down the studio and ending support, amounting to what plaintiffs called a “soft rug pull.”

Decrypt has reached out to Nike, RTFKT’s cofounders, and close associates for confirmation and comment.

At the time of writing, Decrypt has not identified any official obituary or civil registry notice from the French press. The cause of death has not been disclosed.