Bitcoin Pizza Day: 15 years since 10,000 BTC bought two pizzas and changed everything

On May 22, 2010, Bitcoin became more than just an idea. It became real money. Laszlo Hanyecz has posted a casual offer as he is a developer and early contributor of Bitcoin’s codebase. Five days later, someone put him on it. Two Papa John pizzas were delivered. A screenshot has been posted. Bitcoin was in the real world.

10,000 Bitcoin, worth around $41 at the time, is currently valued at over $1.1 billion. And with Bitcoin reaching a new all-time high of $111,999, marking the 15th anniversary of trading, the “Bitcoin Pizza” story weighing more than ever.

It wasn’t just pizza. This was the moment when Bitcoin proved itself as a functioning currency. Until then, it mainly lived in theory and code. It was touched by cryptomen and mined by enthusiasts. Hanyecz’s post and subsequent dealings turned ideas into actions. “This transaction has made Bitcoin realistic for me,” he said in a 2019 interview. “It wasn’t very worth it back then. Weren’t we spent $100 million on pizza?

In the summer of 2010, Hanyecz continued to buy pizza using Bitcoin, eventually spending over 79,000 BTC. It now amounts to nearly $8.7 billion. Some people are making jokes at his expense, but the truth is this. Without these early real-world transactions, Bitcoin may not have proven its use case. Hanyecz helped move Bitcoin from fringe to function.

That legacy still shapes us today. Bitcoin Pizza Day has become a cultural milestone in the crypto world with meetups, pizza parties and educational events taking place around the world on May 22nd. This day reminds us of how far technology has come, and the importance of everyday behavior and the impact they have.

Just this week, fast food chain steak’n shakes have begun accepting Bitcoin through the Lightning network, showing a wave of mainstream adoption. What was once experimental has now become part of everyday commerce.

Bitcoin Pizza Day is about recognition. One simple transaction proved that Bitcoin could work. And 15 years later, the world is still based on its first bite.