What is Bitcoin Pizza Day and how it became a crypto holiday
Laszlo Hanyecz
, an early Bitcoin miner who spent some of his
digital currency
on a pizza purchase and unknowingly created history.
Bitcoin Pizza Day
is celebrated in the memory of that simple moment that reshaped the way we think about money and investment.
Today, cryptocurrencies are used for everyday purchases and even recognized by some governments.
But 15 years back, its valuation was close to nothing. A lighthearted yet crucial moment occurred on May 22 when two early adopters had a quirky exchange, marking the first real-world purchase made with Bitcoin - two large size
Papa John's Pizza
.
This explains why the day is annually celebrated as Bitcoin Pizza Day - to mark an important moment in the history of digital money.
It's no surprise that every May 22, the crypto community enjoys the day with their favourite pizza on what is now known as Bitcoin Pizza Day.
The slice that started it all
To make it clear, Laszlo Hanyecz, a programmer and early Bitcoin miner, wasn't short of money when he decided to spend some bitcoins on a pizza purchase. In an interview he revealed he thought it would be really cool if he just traded the 'internet sourced money' for a real world good purchase.
On why he chose to buy pizza, and not anything else, he explained that food is a basic necessity and that every geek understands pizza.
On the bitcointalk forum, he offered 10K bitcoins in exchange for pizza and soon somebody accepted the offer paying for the pizzas that shortly arrived at his doorsteps. Hanyecz estimated the person would have spent around $30-$40 at the time on the bitcoins which approximately value over $1 billion currently.
However, at that time, nobody would have imagined it could create this much fortune as they weren't worth anything.
For Hanyecz, it wasn't about price but proof: that Bitcoin could be used to buy something tangible in the real world.
What he didn't know at the moment was that he was creating history. It marked the first documented commercial transaction using Bitcoin, a point when the cryptocurrency transformed from an idea into a functioning, spendable currency.
Hanyecz while looking back at the day still can't believe there is a day in his honour.
From $40 to over $1 billion
Today, those same 10,000 BTC are worth over $1.1 billion. On Pizza Day 2025, Bitcoin even surged to an all-time high above $111,800.
The story has become legend. Hanyecz himself mined the coins when Bitcoin was valued at less than a penny. In interviews, he's expressed no regrets, saying the transaction 'made Bitcoin real' to him. 'I was winning the internet that day,' he once joked, recalling the novelty of paying for a meal with digital tokens created out of thin air.
How pizza sparked a movement
Since that 2010 exchange, Bitcoin has evolved into a global financial asset. It's used today to purchase homes, cars, airline tickets, and even pay for taxes in some jurisdictions. Bitcoin Pizza Day, celebrated with themed events, online tributes, and of course, pizza parties, reminds the community of Bitcoin's revolutionary journey, from cypherpunk curiosity to financial powerhouse.
The man behind the meal
What's often missed in this tale is the extent of Hanyecz's Bitcoin pizza spending.
Between May and August 2010, he spent nearly 100,000 BTC on pizza which is more than $11 billion at today's prices. He posted his offer on the Bitcointalk forum and kept it open until it became unsustainable to mine 'thousands of coins a day.'
As a developer, Hanyecz was more than just a hungry enthusiast. He was the first to show that
Bitcoin mining
could be accelerated using GPUs, a discovery that helped spark the arms race in mining power.
He also developed the first MacOS Bitcoin client, contributing significantly to the ecosystem's early infrastructure.
Why Bitcoin Pizza Day still matters
Bitcoin Pizza Day is more than just a meme, it showed that Bitcoin could be transacted, traded, and valued in a tangible way. This marked an important step in Bitcoin's evolution into a tool for commerce, investment, and financial independence.
What makes this day significant in history is that it reminds us that no matter how powerful, every technology has a humble beginning. A simple idea of exchanging
Bitcoin for pizza
helped turn the cryptocurrency into what it is today.
(Images courtesy: iStock)
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