Every year on May 22, the cryptocurrency community celebrates Bitcoin Pizza Day. This day marks the “first time ever” Bitcoin was used to buy a real-world item which was 2 pizzas. In 2010, a programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz indeed paid 10,000 Bitcoins for two Papa John’s pizzas. At that time, those Bitcoins were worth about $41.
At today’s price, those same 10,000 Bitcoins would be worth over $1 billion, making it one, if not the most expensive meal in the history of human beings.
What happened?
On May 18, 2010, Hanyecz wrote a post on Bitcointalk saying he’d give 10,000 Bitcoins to anyone who could get him 2 pizzas. Just four days later, on May 22, a fellow user named Jeremy Sturdivant took him up on the offer and arranged for 2 pizzas to be delivered to Hanyecz’s home in Florida.
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The legendary transaction
That simple exchange went down in history as the first ever known real-world purchase made with Bitcoin because it simply proved that the digital currency could be used to buy everyday goods not just as something to trade on the internet.
Why does it matter?
Prior to that, Bitcoin was the domain of tech gurus only. The transaction for 2 pizzas, however, marked the first instance when cryptocurrency was treated like regular money.
Since then, Bitcoin has not only increased in price significantly but also gained a lot of popularity. Nowadays, it is accepted by a lot of companies as payment and has been acknowledged as a top digital asset.
Here’s a brief timeline of Bitcoin’s price that will help you understand what those 2 pizzas would cost:
2010: 10,000 BTC = ~$41 USD
2013: 10,000 BTC = ~$1.15 million USD
2017: 10,000 BTC = ~$20 million USD
2021: 10,000 BTC = ~$500 million USD
2025: 10,000 BTC = ~$1.050 billion USD
Crypto enthusiasts celebrate May 22 by having pizza loaded with Bitcoin and sometimes, they even pay with Bitcoin. This is a day on which many crypto companies also offer special deals and promotions to celebrate the occasion.
How does Hanyecz feel about it?
Laszlo Hanyecz, a.k.a. Mr. Pizza, states that he has definitely not the slightest regret about buying pizza with 10,000 Bitcoins. At the time, Bitcoin had a very minor value, and he was up to the challenge of being a part of something new and innovative.
But, on the contrary, this incident is viewed differently in the different crypto-related circles in the world. PizzaDAO, a decentralized community that organizes the Global Pizza Party every May 22, has declared that in the year 2025 they will give out free pizza in more than 400 cities globally, which includes the major cities like New York, Berlin, Mumbai, and Sydney.
The crypto exchange Binance, which is ranked among the top exchanges, has also taken the opportunity of celebrating the event known as Bitcoin Pizza Day, by holding pizza parties in different cities of the world.
A personal approach to the celebrations has been introduced by the co-founder and former CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), who has always been friendly to participating in the past Bitcoin Pizza Day by preparing and delivering pizzas to people. In 2022, he made pizza at a local pizzeria in Paris where he not only interacted but also entertained the community, thus exhibiting the grassroots nature of the crypto movement.
The following year Binance gave notice of organizing events in places like Sydney, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, and Johannesburg where people could enjoy free pizza, interactive games, and community engagement activities in honor of the historic Bitcoin transaction.
From Pizza to Policy: Bitcoin’s Rise as a Global Asset
At present, Bitcoin is far beyond a mere currency for pizza. It is a digital asset that the top-notch companies in the world like Microsoft, Starbucks (and other third-party apps), and even some high-end hotels and airlines have started to accept.
Cryptocurrencies have become even more powerful, with the traditional financial conglomerates, like BlackRock, entering through the door with the launching of Bitcoin ETFs, thus marking the beginning of a long-term institutional confidence in the asset.
