The first well-known commercial purchase with Bitcoin was two pizzas bought for 10,000 BTC by programmer Laszlo Hanyecz on May 22, 2010, an event now celebrated as "Bitcoin Pizza Day". This transaction, where Hanyecz paid a fellow user on a forum to order the pizzas, established Bitcoin as a medium for exchanging value for real-world goods, despite the pizzas being worth only about $40 at the time.
Bitcoin Pizza refers to the first known real-world transaction using Bitcoin, where a man exchanged 10,000 Bitcoins for two pizzas. The transaction took place on May 22, 2010, and the day is now celebrated annually as Bitcoin Pizza Day.
“If you've ever made a costly investment decision, spare a thought for Laszlo Hanyecz. You may not have heard of him, but in 2010 he spent 10,000 Bitcoins on two pizzas, in the first recorded 'real world' crypto transaction. The market value of those Bitcoins is now $1.04 billion, or £795 million.
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.
A programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz famously bought two pizzas with 10,000 Bitcoin on May 22, 2010, marking the first real-world commercial use of the cryptocurrency, an event celebrated as "Bitcoin Pizza Day". At the time, the Bitcoins were worth only about $41, but today that same amount is worth over $1 billion, making it arguably the most expensive pizza ever bought. Hanyecz sees it as a successful experiment to show Bitcoin's utility, and he has expressed no regrets, finding it "pretty cool" that it helped establish Bitcoin as a currency.
On May 21, Hanyecz said his 10,000 BTC price might have been "too low," and he explained that he thought "it would be interesting if I could say that I paid for a pizza in bitcoins."
In other words, the price was about one-tenth of one cent. While Bitcoin was officially launched on January 3, 2009, it's tough to find any standard pricing before mid-2010. That's because there weren't exchanges in the same way that there are today.
Despite extreme volatility, Bitcoin's price has skyrocketed 1,060% in the past five years as I write this. This monster gain would've turned a $10,000 initial capital outlay in October 2020 to a whopping $115,700 on Oct. 6.
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.
2011 – 2012: $1 to $13.50
In 2011, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) accepted BTC for donations for a few months, but quickly backtracked due to a lack of a legal framework for virtual currencies. In February of 2011, BTC reached $1.00 for the first time, achieving parity with the U.S. dollar.
Gold's 20-Year Return
Through the end of 2024, gold had posted a 20-year average annual return of 9.47%. If you had invested $10,000 at the start of this period, you'd have $65,967 in your account, a total gain of roughly 560%.
Created by mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin runs on open-source code governed by global consensus, not one owner. Uncover the full story here.
A programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz famously bought two pizzas with 10,000 Bitcoin on May 22, 2010, marking the first real-world commercial use of the cryptocurrency, an event celebrated as "Bitcoin Pizza Day". At the time, the Bitcoins were worth only about $41, but today that same amount is worth over $1 billion, making it arguably the most expensive pizza ever bought. Hanyecz sees it as a successful experiment to show Bitcoin's utility, and he has expressed no regrets, finding it "pretty cool" that it helped establish Bitcoin as a currency.
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.
Later, Jeremy ordered the two pizzas from Papa Johns, which were then delivered to Laszlo. “How lucky they must have been to find all that money in their hands!”. Actually, Papa Johns didn't receive any Bitcoin. For a straightforward reason: Papa Johns didn't accept Bitcoin in 2010.
Domino's is positioning itself for Web3 readiness, with xMoney enabling access to cryptocurrency payment solutions through an upgraded fiat-checkout system.
On May 22, 2010, known now as "Bitcoin Pizza Day." Laszlo Hanyecz, a programmer from Florida, made history by using Bitcoin to purchase two pizzas from Papa John's. Hanyecz paid 10,000 Bitcoins for the pizzas, an amount that was worth about $41 at the time. Today, that is the equivalent of $1,012,030,000!