Let’s talk about the famous Bitcoin pizza story—it’s one we can’t ignore even in 2024. Back in 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz traded 10,000 Bitcoin for two pizzas from Papa John’s. At the time, this seemed like a simple and creative way to use a new digital currency. Fast forward to today, and those same Bitcoins are worth close to $1 billion, if we take a $100K Bitcoin price into consideration.
$500 Million Per Pizza?
In 2019, Hanyecz reflected on this moment in an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes. He explained how he came up with the idea of buying pizza with Bitcoin, which became the first commercial Bitcoin transaction.
He described posting on a forum, saying, “If anyone’s interested, I’ll give 10,000 Bitcoin for some pizza.” Someone took him up on the offer, bought the pizzas with their credit card, and had them delivered to Hanyecz’s door.
If we think about it now, paying 10,000 Bitcoin for two pizzas seems wild. But at the time, Bitcoin was almost worthless. Most people didn’t care about it, let alone trust it. Hanyecz wasn’t making a mistake—he was simply using Bitcoin in a way that made sense in 2010.
Pizza Day and the Growing Price Tag
May 22, the day of the purchase, is now celebrated as “Bitcoin Pizza Day” by the crypto community. It’s a fun reminder of how far Bitcoin has come.
In 2016, those 10,000 Bitcoins were worth $4.4 million. By 2018, they had jumped to $41 million. In 2020, the value climbed to over $80 million, and in 2022, they hit $300 million.
The bear market of 2023 caused a dip, bringing the value down to $268 million. But today, those same Bitcoins are worth nearly $1 billion—and we can only guess where the value might go from here if the bull market continues.
So, next time you hear someone mention Bitcoin Pizza Day, you’ll know it’s more than just a quirky holiday—it’s a snapshot of how far we’ve come.
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