May 22 is known as Bitcoin Pizza Day, marking the 11th anniversary date where in 2010 a Florida man Laszlo Hanyecz paid for two pizzas with the cryptocurrency. Hanyecz is also the first person to use bitcoin in a commercial transaction.
In May 22, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz agreed to pay 10,000 Bitcoins for two delivered Papa John's pizzas.
Also Read: Moneycontrol Pro Weekender | Happy Bitcoin Pizza Day!
Since then, Hanyeczs' pizzas have got more and more expensive. Nine months after the purchase, Bitcoin reached parity with the US dollar making the two pizzas worth $10,000, while in the year 2015, the two pizzas were valued at $2.4 million.
On its 11th anniversary in 2021, bitcoin price reached a high of $63,000. So, the two pizzas were worth $630 million.
In honor of the 11th anniversary of Bitcoin Pizza Day, here's a list of some interesting facts:
At the 10,000 BTC was worth just $41 at the time of purchase
According to the data, Hanyecz could have traded his bitcoin on an exchange for US dollars, about $41 to be exact. Should the figures be accurate, that puts the price per bitcoin at roughly $0.004 or four thousandths of a penny at the time of sale. While that figure isn’t exactly zero, the price was low enough for ender_X to think Hanyecz might be getting the better of the deal, his post ending with the quip — “good luck on getting your free pizza.”
Bitcoin Pizza Day is not the first bitcoin holiday
The Bitcoiners have been creating holidays for almost as long as the technology has been around.
Bitcoin users marked the disappearance of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto who had recently stepped down from his role as project lead declaring April 28, 2011 as “Satoshi Disappear Day.”
“I propose we make a bitcoin holiday in honor of our legendary anonymous founder and to observe the fact that the bitcoin community will be just fine after the inventor of bitcoin left,” wrote user Kiba at the time.
Laszlo Hanyecz had to wait for four days to get his pies
According to the Bitcoin magazine, Hanyecz waited for a while for his order. In fact, Hanyecz first posted on the Bitcoin.org forums on May 18, at the time writing:
“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. I like having left over pizza to nibble on later … If you're interested please let me know and we can work out a deal.”
He still did not get his pizza until Saturday. By Friday, some even led to reach out about Hanyecz’s health, with user BitcoinFX asking if he was “getting hungry.”
“I just think it would be interesting if I could say that I paid for a pizza in bitcoins,” Hanyecz replied.
Jercos would help him complete the delivery the next day, the transaction taking place at around 2:16 p.m. EST, according to records supported by Bitcoin Talk.
Hanyecz bought more than two pizzas for bitcoin
Hanyecz did not stop with just two pizzas. He sought to push the limit in June adding to his post that the deal was “an open offer.”
On June 12, he wrote, “I will trade 10,000 BTC for 2 of these pizzas any time as long as I have the funds (I usually have plenty.” “If anyone is interested please let me know.”
Rumor has it that there were other pizza-order exchanges and there’s some evidence to hint that this might be the case with Hanyecz bringing his open offer to a close in August.
“Well I didn't expect this to be so popular but I can't really afford to keep doing it since I can't generate thousands of coins a day anymore,” he wrote.
“Thanks to everyone who bought me pizza already but I'm kind of holding off on doing any more of these for now.”
In 2018, Hanyecz became the first person to buy a pizza over the Lightning Network, though he paid just 0.00649 BTC at the time.
Jercos eventually sold his bitcoin
As the Bitcoin Pizza Day holiday grew, it wasn’t long before Jeremy “Jercos” Sturdivant would be thrust back into the limelight. He’d give his only interview to a website called “Bitcoin Who’s Who” in 2015, five years after the trade.
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