Only a select few NFT artists are discussed as being at the very pinnacle of the NFT industry. One of them has sold hundreds of millions of dollars in NFTs, pioneered new NFT standards, and assisted a notorious media figure in his fight for freedom. That NFT artist is Pak.
Over the past decade, Pak has built cutting-edge products, created inspirational art, and used their platform to combine community sentiment and drive real change.
Through Pak’s efforts, NFTs have proven their potential as a vehicle for change – but how did Pak rise to prominence, what works have they created, and what could Pak do in future?
Master the topic, as we explain, the past, present, and perhaps the future, of the storied NFT artist known as Pak.
Key Insights
- Pseudonymous digital creator, unknown if an individual or a team
- Debuted in NFTs in February 2020
- Sold The Merge for $91.8 million USD in December 2021
- Sold The Clock to AssangeDAO for $52.8 million USD in February 2022
- Widely considered, alongside Beeple, to be one of the biggest NFT artists in the world
Who is Pak?
Pak is the pseudonymous identity of an unknown digital creator or group of creators. Little is known about the true origins of Pak, though we are aware that Pak has been largely active over the past 10 years.
The first known work from Pak was created in 2014 – and ever since, Pak’s work has only continued to grow in scope, attention, and importance.
Pak’s NFTs tend to focus less on the art itself, and more on the meaning, impact or purpose of the sale – using blockchain technology to its fullest extent. Pak’s NFTs are often uniquely generated or use geometric shapes, although its their penchant to change or have effects based on real-world events has enshrined them as some of the most important blockchain-based artworks in the world.
The history of Pak
The earliest output from Pak was the internet bot Archillect, created in 2014. This bot scours through social media platforms to create fresh content designed to be as engagement-driven as possible – and it has grown to become incredibly popular over the past decade.
Pak debuted in the NFT industry with Cloud Monument Dark, minted on SuperRare in February 2020. Although the NFT art market was comparatively small at this point in time, Pak’s work was an instant hit.
Much of Pak’s early works either created or popularized new innovations in NFTs, such as time-limited sales, open editions, dynamic NFTs and more. Pak is also credited with having introduced Beeple to the medium of NFTs in October 2020.
Entering 2021, Pak assisted Sotheby’s in holding their first NFT auction with The Fungible – a 48-hour open edition that generated a collective $16.8 million USD. This partnership has been one of the most fruitful in the NFT industry, including auctions for The Pixel, The Switch, and the October 2021 launch of the Sotheby’s Metaverse.
December 2021 heralded Pak’s most notable NFT to date, titled Merge. Available on Nifty Gateway as a 48-hour time-limited mint, Merge saw buyers acquire “mass units”, with the art of the resulting merged NFT determined by the transaction data and the number of “mass units” purchased.
312,686 mass units of Merge were purchased by 28,983 buyers, bringing in a collective $91.8 million USD. If you consider Merge to be a single NFT sale – as opposed to multiple individual sales – this makes Merge the single most expensive NFT ever sold.
Following Merge, Pak is perhaps best-known for a series of NFT sales held to raise money for notorious media figure Julian Assange. February 2022 saw the sale of Censored – a series of fundraiser NFTs. One individual NFT in this set, titled The Clock, counted the number of days that Assange had been in prison. It was sold for 16,593 ETH – worth $52.8 million USD at the time – to AssangeDAO, an online community of Assange supporters.
Pak’s NFTs have not just furthered the NFT medium, they have consistently innovated, generated mainstream attention, and helped to create real change.
Their use of blockchain technology and the causes for which they have created their NFTs, have perhaps done as much for the industry as any other innovation in the past several years. By putting the meaning behind the art at the forefront, Pak has inspired countless other artists to do the same, no doubt helping to shape the NFT art market into what we know today.
What’s next for Pak?
Though Pak’s prominence in the NFT industry has waned over the past several years, his impact can be felt as much today as at any point previously.
Innovations Pak helped to popularise have a huge impact on NFT art at large, such as time-limited sales, open editions, and the “mass unit” concept introduced by Merge. Pak’s work continually pushed the boundaries of what was possible – and they have no doubt inspired countless other artists to do the same over the past several years.
Few NFT artists have achieved as much as Pak, and it’s likely that few ever will. Pak’s presence, influence and importance cannot be understated – and Pak’s rightful place at the pinnacle of the industry is all but etched into the annals of history.
Riding crypto waves since 2012, bridging digital and physical worlds through prose.