Yes, you can buy pizza directly with Bitcoin using crypto-friendly platforms like Menufy.com or specialized BitPay merchants. While direct, mainstream pizza chain acceptance is limited, you can easily use BitPay, Bitrefill, or Lightning network-enabled apps to purchase pizza or gift cards.
The Story Behind Bitcoin Pizza
On May 22, 2010, a Florida man named Laszlo Hanyecz made history by conducting the first known real-world transaction using Bitcoin. He exchanged 10,000 Bitcoins for two large pizzas from Papa John's. At the time, the worth of those Bitcoins was around $41.
Yes, someone really did pay 10,000 Bitcoin for two pizzas in a historic transaction on May 22, 2010, by programmer Laszlo Hanyecz, marking the first real-world purchase with cryptocurrency and becoming famous as Bitcoin Pizza Day. At the time, those 10,000 BTC were worth about $41, but now (in recent years, as Bitcoin's price has soared) they'd be worth over a billion dollars, demonstrating Bitcoin's massive growth in value.
Of the many unfortunate trades in early crypto history, transferring 10,000 BTC for some pizza probably takes the cake (or perhaps the pie). He might have enjoyed a tasty dinner in 2010, but Laszlo Hanyecz's Wikipedia page now serves as an eternal reminder of this billion-dollar decision.
Jeremy later explained in interviews that he never regretted spending Bitcoins, as their value was insignificant at the time! The story of Bitcoin Pizza Day is often framed around "loss"—the potential value of the 10,000 BTC Laszlo spent. It's easy to imagine what would have been like if he had held on to those coins.
Key Takeaways. The IRS treats cryptocurrency as property, meaning that when you buy, sell or exchange it, this counts as a taxable event and typically results in either a capital gain or loss. When you earn income from cryptocurrency activities, this is taxed as ordinary income.
About 480–500 million people now own Bitcoin globally. Fewer than 1 million wallets hold 1 BTC or more. Around 150,000 wallets hold 10 BTC or more. Owning 0.1 BTC already puts you in the top 10% of Bitcoin holders.
If you invested $10K in Bitcoin in 2012, you'd have over $71 million today. It was 2012, and most people were too busy scrolling through videos on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, given the boom of social media platforms around the time.
Whole foods is partnered with Winklevoss Flexa spending app 'Spedn'. Using the Spedn app, you can buy all your whole food groceries using Bitcoin, Litecoin, or the Gemini dollar with no problems. The Spedn app doesn't just limit you to whole foods though.
Who's the Man Who Ate the Bitcoin Pizza? Laszlo Hanyecz is a software engineer, born and raised in Florida, where he still lives with his two children and his wife. Hanyecz had a pivotal role in the early years of the Bitcoin economy, and not only because of the 10,000 BTC pizza.
The 10,000 bitcoin that software developer Laszlo Hanyecz paid for two Papa John's pizzas delivered to his Florida home on May 22, 2010, were worth about $41 at the time. Today they're worth $1.1 billion, as bitcoin hits record high prices.
When the last Bitcoin is mined (around 2140), no new coins will be created, and miners will rely solely on transaction fees to validate transactions and secure the network, with scarcity potentially increasing demand, though some experts worry about the long-term viability if fees aren't high enough to cover costs and incentivize miners.