By
Anisha Pandey
June 14th, 2024
While many may count the Florida programmer’s Bitcoin transaction as a huge loss, Hanyecz feels very proud, stating that he contributed to Bitcoin history.
Today, May 22, 2024, marks the anniversary of the day that a man in Florida paid 10,000 Bitcoin (BTC) for pizza 14 years ago. Imagine how he would have become a billionaire in today’s market if he hadn’t spent that fortune on pizza. However, his historic purchase was the beginning of Bitcoin’s real-world utilization.
Bitcoin’s First Real World Utilization
On May 22, 2010, Florida-based programmer Laszlo Hanyecz offered to pay 10,000 BTC to anyone who could get him two large pizzas from Papa John’s. This later became recognized as the first-ever major real-world purchase with the flagship cryptocurrency
“What I’m aiming for is getting food delivered in exchange for bitcoins where I don’t have to order or prepare it myself,” Hanyecz wrote on the Bitcoin Talk forum.
His offer was immediately accepted by a British man who was also a Bitcoin enthusiast. He brought the pizzas, which were valued at $25 to Hanyecz and received 10,000 BTC worth only $41 at that time. It is quite evident that since that time till now, the market value of the coin has climbed significantly. A unit of BTC, according to the current market price, is valued at approximately $70,000.
By all standards, Hanyecz’s 10,000 BTC would have been worth approximately $700 million in today’s crypto market. The series of Bitcoin halving events that have happened over the years are some of the catalysts that have influenced the price of the coin. The first halving was on November 28, 2012, during which the reward for mining a block was reduced from 50 BTC to 25. Notably, Bitcoin’s price was only $12 at the time.
Four years later on July 9, 2016, the second halving took place, further slashing the mining reward to 12.5 BTC and pushing the price to $658. Based on earlier reports, there has been the third and recently, the fourth halving event (April 19, 2024). In the just concluded halving, mining reward came down to 3.125 Bitcoin with prices fluctuating between $60,000 and $70,000.
Celebrating Bitcoin Pizza Day with Pizza
While many may count the Florida programmer’s Bitcoin transaction as a huge loss, Hanyecz feels very proud, stating that he contributed to Bitcoin history. His transaction is legendary in the crypto ecosystem, hence, the celebration of Bitcoin Pizza Day. Several entities are hosting different events and giveaways to commemorate this anniversary.
Leading cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company Bitget hosts a series of global events, bringing together crypto enthusiasts, innovators, and traders to celebrate Bitcoin Pizza Day. There were different meetups in Bueno Aires, Brisbane, Sao Paulo, and Taipei featuring top personalities like Steve Chen, the former founder of YouTube.
As there would be no celebrating Bitcoin Pizza Day without pizza, Bitget partnered with Domino’s Pizza as the pizza supplier in its Sao Paulo event.
In South Africa, Binance Africa “took the #BinancePizza truck for a spin around the city and gifted boxes of pizza to the community”.