Benoît Pagotto, co-founder of Nike's NFT project RTFKT, has passed away.

PANews, October 13 - According to The Block, RTFKT co-founder Benoît Pagotto has passed away at the age of 41. The news was initially reported by Philippe Rodriguez in a LinkedIn post, who referred to Pagotto as a “client and friend” and noted that his passing was “very sudden.” Rodriguez is the founding partner of Avolta Partners, a firm that provided consulting services for RTFKT's sale to Nike in December 2021. Another co-founder of RTFKT, Steven Vasilev, later confirmed the news on the X platform. Nike had previously announced plans to shut down the startup in December 2024. Pagotto continued to remain at Nike, serving as Senior Director of Brand and Partnerships.