Bitcoin Pizza Day is celebrated globally on May 22. This day commemorates the first time cryptocurrencies were used to purchase physical goods. Pizza was incidentally the first item purchased with cryptocurrency. On May 22, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz paided 10,000 Bitcoins for the delivery of two pizzas from Papa John. Nine months after the purchase, the two pizzas were worth $10,000, whereas in 2015 they were worth a staggering $2.4 million. In 2021, the Bitcoin price peaked at $63,000, valuing the two pizzas at $630 million.
HISTORY OF BITCOIN PIZZA DAY
In 2012, the value of the first bitcoin (BTC) was halved. A miner was awarded 50 BTC for discovering a new block successfully. This meant that a person only needed to mine 200 blocks to earn 10,000 BTC, which was relatively simple considering how few individuals dealt with Bitcoins.
Hanyecz announced on the Bitcointalk.org forum on May 18 that he wanted to purchase two large pizzas with Bitcoin! He offered 10,000 BTC to anyone willing to order, acquire, and deliver the cryptocurrency to him. Hanyecz told Anderson Cooper in a 2019 C.B.S. interview that the transaction “made [Bitcoin] real for some individuals. Indeed, it did for me. On May 21, he was still unaware of who accepted his Bitcoin pizza transaction. On May 22, someone finally accepted his offer. This became a momentous occasion!
The value of these Bitcoins surged over the subsequent decade. Hanyecz could have purchased 46 million large Papa John pizzas at $15 each if he had sold his entire hoard at Bitcoin’s all-time high of $68,990. That is sufficient pizza for an eternity! In honour of this special day, the global crypto community celebrates the first physical Bitcoin transaction on May 22 each year. Hanyecz is also reminded that he could have been one-tenth as affluent as Melinda Gates on this day. What do you intend to purchase with your Bitcoins?
Five True Cryptocurrency Facts
- There are 9,500 distinct varieties of cryptocurrencies as of 2022.
- There are a maximum of 21 million Bitcoins.
- Despite being regarded digital assets, N.F.Ts are not cryptocurrencies.
- It was invented as a joke in 2013 by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer and named after the ‘doge’ meme.
- Although the name Satoshi Nakamoto is frequently associated with Bitcoin, the identity of the actual individual bearing the name has never been confirmed.
BITCOIN PIZZA DAY DATES
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | May 22 | Monday |
| 2024 | May 22 | Wednesday |
| 2025 | May 22 | Thursday |
| 2026 | May 22 | Friday |
| 2027 | May 22 | Saturday |
