Today’s the Bitcoin Pizza Day 12th anniversary!
On 22 May 2010 – exactly 12 years ago – the first Bitcoin transaction occurred.
Laszlo Hanyecz purchased two Papa John’s pizzas in exchange for 10,000 BTC – that is the equivalent of roughly US$300 million today. 22 May is now celebrated in the crypto community as “Bitcoin Pizza Day” to mark the anniversary.
Hanyecz, a Florida resident at first couldn’t find any takers to fulfil his request for pizza that he had posted on an online Bitcoin Forum. He wrote on the forum,
“I’ll pay 10,000 Bitcoins for a couple of pizzas.. like maybe 2 large ones so I have some left over for the next day.”
Eventually student Jordan Sturdivant came to his aid and had the order filled and pizzas delivered to Hanyecz in exchange for the BTC. Sadly this isn’t the story of Strudivant becoming a Bitcoin millionaire, as he didn’t save the crypto and instead spent it on travel.
To this day, BTC is still not widely utilised as a medium of exchange, particularly for categories like FMCG due to the high levels of volatility that it exhibits. However, increasingly retailers are experimenting with it as a form of payment, so you never know – one day soon we may well all be buying pizza with our coins.
