Latest news with #PapaJohn
Business Mayor
25-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
Bitcoin Pizza Day showcases the utility of crypto
As May 22 approaches, the crypto community is gearing up to celebrate the 15th anniversary of this legendary transaction—the first time someone verifiably used BTC to buy something in the real world. It sounds almost like a joke now—10,000 BTC for two Papa John's pizzas. It proved that this weird internet money could do something tangible. Think about the wildest online purchase story you've ever heard. Does it involve spending what's now hundreds of millions of dollars on a couple of pizzas? Probably not, unless you're familiar with Bitcoin Pizza Day. As May 22 approaches, the crypto community is gearing up to celebrate the 15th anniversary of this legendary transaction—the first time someone verifiably used BTC to buy something in the real world. It sounds almost like a joke now—10,000 BTC for two Papa John's pizzas. But back in 2010, it was a groundbreaking moment. It proved that this weird internet money could actually do something tangible. Fifteen years later, Bitcoin Pizza Day isn't just a quirky footnote; it's a yearly reminder of how far cryptocurrencies have come, evolving from a niche experiment into tools with real-world utility for people all over the globe. 'From two pizzas to a global financial movement, crypto's journey has been nothing short of extraordinary—and our community has been the driving force behind it,' said Rachel Conlan, Chief Marketing Officer at Binance . 'This year, we're marking Bitcoin Pizza Day with the biggest BTC referral giveaway in history—$5 million worth—alongside over 28 local meetups and social activations. It's our way of honoring how far we've come while inviting millions more into the crypto world.' Bitcoin Pizza Day stories demonstrating real-world crypto utility To mark the occasion, the crypto exchange Binance recently asked its users to share how crypto has actually been useful in their own lives . Forget the memes for a second; these stories paint a picture of cryptocurrencies solving everyday problems and creating meaningful moments, showing the practical side that Bitcoin Pizza Day first hinted at. Take Andy from Vietnam, for example. He ran into a common travel snag in Malaysia: needing to pay a rental deposit without a local bank account. His plan B was crypto. 'I turned to crypto and planned to use Binance to make the payment,' he shared. As it turned out, the host ended up waiving the fee because Andy promised to take good care of the place. 'While the payment was never completed,' Andy reflected, 'it was still a perfect example of how versatile crypto can be in real-life situations!' Codi, based in Dubai, shared a story about using digital assets for better value while traveling. 'In 2023, I paid for a delicious Turkish kebab with USDT while visiting Turkey,' she said. 'It was incredibly convenient, and the exchange rate was much better than what my Dubai bank offered.' For Codi, using cryptocurrency wasn't just novel; it made the trip easier and more economical. 'Having crypto as a payment option made the whole trip feel smoother and more flexible—true worry-free travel.' It's not always about convenience or necessity, though; sometimes it's about sentiment. Mina from Algeria used her first crypto salary, earned when BNB was around $200, for a special purchase. Thinking back, she said, 'The first thing I ever bought with crypto wasn't pizza—it was my mom's favorite perfume. There's something special about using crypto for something you love; it felt exciting, satisfying, and like I was part of something bigger.' She used Binance for the fast, seamless payment, adding, 'My only regret? Not starting sooner!' Read More Ripple Locks Away 800 Million XRP In Escrow, Impact On Price? And then there's Jimmy from Canada, whose story highlights how early adoption, even accidental, could turn out. Back in late 2012, when Bitcoin was just $13, he needed some BTC not for investment, but necessity. 'I just needed it to buy a textbook on compilers from an online seller who insisted on Bitcoin payment,' he explained. 'I bought five whole Bitcoins on Coinbase, used a few to pay for the book, and forgot about the rest.' It wasn't until years later, after joining Binance, that he remembered the old account. 'It sat untouched for years, and I became an accidental HODLer.' These stories, from travel fixes to heartfelt gifts and forgotten digital wallets, show crypto's utility extending far beyond just trading charts. Why Bitcoin Pizza Day matters for the crypto industry So, why all the fuss about two pizzas bought 15 years ago? Because that single transaction, initiated by programmer Laszlo Hanyecz on the BitcoinTalk forum , was the moment Bitcoin stepped out of the purely digital realm. On May 22, 2010, after offering 10,000 BTC for pizza delivery, a fellow enthusiast named Jeremy Sturdivant took him up on it, ordering the pizzas and receiving the Bitcoin. At the time, those 10,000 BTC were worth maybe $41. Today? Over $970 million! But the astronomical Bitcoin price difference isn't the main point. The real significance is that it demonstrated utility. Suddenly, Bitcoin wasn't just lines of code anymore. That pizza deal proved it could operate as the peer-to-peer (P2P) electronic cash system Satoshi Nakamoto had described in the original whitepaper. Read More Ethereum Price Rebounds But Here's Why Upsides Might Be Limited It served as the first real test case for using crypto to buy actual things, and it definitely got people talking about whether it could catch on and how easy it was to use. The story also offers a fascinating snapshot of crypto's early days. Hanyecz, an early miner, reportedly earned his coins when mining rewards were 50 BTC per block. This means those 10,000 BTC represented validating just 200 blocks, a feat achievable on a regular computer back then. Contrast that with today's massive, ASIC-powered mining operations. Sturdivant, the recipient, didn't 'HODL' his way to riches; he reportedly used the BTC for travel and games, reflecting the experimental, currency-like view of Bitcoin at the time. Bitcoin Pizza Day, which only really gained traction around 2014 as Bitcoin's price and public awareness grew, serves as an annual benchmark. It reminds the community of crypto's humble origins and its incredible journey. It's a celebration of innovation, a nod to the early believers, and a prompt to keep working on making crypto more accessible and user-friendly—to fulfill the potential that first slice represented.
22-05-2025
- Business
Billion dollar pizza? Bitcoin soars on key anniversary of crypto's growth
It's not an official holiday – yet – but for many cryptocurrency enthusiasts 'Bitcoin Pizza Day' is still special. Thursday marks the 15th anniversary of the first known use of cryptocurrency to buy real-world goods. 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. Several cryptocurrency companies are announcing promotions and other celebrations to mark Bitcoin Pizza Day. Bitget, a cryptocurrency exchange, announced that it's giving away pizzas to more than 2,000 people at gatherings held around the world. Here's the backstory of Bitcoin Pizza Day: The first bitcoin was created in early 2009 by the digital currency's still unknown creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. It started as a passion project for libertarian-minded computer nerds who wanted to create a digital payment system that didn't rely on a third party – like a government or financial institution – for transactions. Hanyecz was an early enthusiast and became active on an early bitcoin internet message board, offering technical advice on how to 'mine' bitcoin more effectively. Central to bitcoin's technology is the process through which transactions are verified and then recorded on what's known as the blockchain. Computers connected to the bitcoin network race to solve complex mathematical calculations that verify the transactions, with the winner earning newly minted bitcoins as a reward in a process known as mining. In the early days, enthusiasts could mine bitcoin through their home computers and Hanyecz accumulated thousands of the new digital asset. Nowadays, mining bitcoin has become a highly competitive field with multi-billion-dollar companies using specialized computers in entire data centers to acquire new bitcoins. In the early days, no one quite knew what to do with the bitcoin they were mining. On May 18, 2010, Hanyecz tried an experiment and posted a message offering 10,000 bitcoins for pizza. 'I like things like onions, peppers, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes, pepperoni, etc.. just standard stuff no weird fish topping or anything like that,' Hanyecz wrote. Three days later, Hanyecz wondered if he needed to up the price. 'So nobody wants to buy me pizza? Is the bitcoin amount I'm offering too low?' he wrote. But the next day, Hanyecz said he'd successfully traded his bitcoin for pizza. Another bitcoin enthusiast from California had paid for the Papa John's pizza in exchange for the cryptocurrency, according to a book about bitcoin's early history, 'Digital Gold.' 'A great milestone reached,' said another early bitcoin enthusiast on the message board congratulating Hanyecz. It did not take long for bitcoin to take off after the first pizza deal. Bitcoin started getting more publicity and grew, thanks in part to the popularity of an online black-market site, Silk Road, which only accepted bitcoin. By February 2014, with bitcoin trading at around $600, Hanyecz marveled at what the digital currency had become. 'I mean people can say I'm stupid, but it was a great deal at the time,' Hanyecz wrote on the bitcoin message board. 'I don't think anyone could have known it would take off like this.' Five years later, when bitcoin was trading as high as $11,000, Hanyecz reflected on what buying that first pizza meant for bitcoin. 'It made it real for some people, I mean it certainly did for me,' Hanyecz said on the television show '60 minutes.' Hanyecz has largely stayed out of the public spotlight in recent years and efforts to contact him by The Associated Press were unsuccessful. After many years of fits and starts, bitcoin now appears firmly entrenched in the mainstream financial system. While it hasn't taken off as a way to pay for everyday items like pizza, bitcoin has found popularity as a kind of 'digital gold,' or a way to store value. executive order establishing a government reserve of bitcoin.
AU Financial Review
22-05-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Cryptocurrencies: The first bitcoin deal has not aged well
In the pub on Thursday, you might have seen a group of people eating pizza and saying things like 'cold wallet' and 'stablecoin'. Chances are, they were celebrating the 15th anniversary of Bitcoin Pizza Day: the first recorded use of the cryptocurrency to buy a real-world object, when a Florida-based programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 bitcoins (BTC) for two Papa John's pizzas to be delivered to his house.
AU Financial Review
22-05-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
What's with all the crypto bros eating pizza?
In the pub on Thursday, you might have seen a group of people eating pizza and saying things like 'cold wallet' and 'stablecoin'. Chances are, they were celebrating the 15th anniversary of Bitcoin Pizza Day: the first recorded use of the cryptocurrency to buy a real-world object, when a Florida-based programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 bitcoins (BTC) for two Papa John's pizzas to be delivered to his house.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Billion dollar pizza? Bitcoin soars on key anniversary of crypto's growth
It's not an official holiday – yet – but for many cryptocurrency enthusiasts 'Bitcoin Pizza Day' is still special. Thursday marks the 15th anniversary of the first known use of cryptocurrency to buy real-world goods. 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. Several cryptocurrency companies are announcing promotions and other celebrations to mark Bitcoin Pizza Day. Bitget, a cryptocurrency exchange, announced that it's giving away pizzas to more than 2,000 people at gatherings held around the world. Here's the backstory of Bitcoin Pizza Day: Humble Beginnings The first bitcoin was created in early 2009 by the digital currency's still unknown creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. It started as a passion project for libertarian-minded computer nerds who wanted to create a digital payment system that didn't rely on a third party – like a government or financial institution – for transactions. Hanyecz was an early enthusiast and became active on an early bitcoin internet message board, offering technical advice on how to 'mine' bitcoin more effectively. Central to bitcoin's technology is the process through which transactions are verified and then recorded on what's known as the blockchain. Computers connected to the bitcoin network race to solve complex mathematical calculations that verify the transactions, with the winner earning newly minted bitcoins as a reward in a process known as mining. In the early days, enthusiasts could mine bitcoin through their home computers and Hanyecz accumulated thousands of the new digital asset. Nowadays, mining bitcoin has become a highly competitive field with multi-billion-dollar companies using specialized computers in entire data centers to acquire new bitcoins. 'No weird fish topping' In the early days, no one quite knew what to do with the bitcoin they were mining. On May 18, 2010, Hanyecz tried an experiment and posted a message offering 10,000 bitcoins for pizza. 'I like things like onions, peppers, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes, pepperoni, etc.. just standard stuff no weird fish topping or anything like that,' Hanyecz wrote. Three days later, Hanyecz wondered if he needed to up the price. 'So nobody wants to buy me pizza? Is the bitcoin amount I'm offering too low?' he wrote. But the next day, Hanyecz said he'd successfully traded his bitcoin for pizza. Another bitcoin enthusiast from California had paid for the Papa John's pizza in exchange for the cryptocurrency, according to a book about bitcoin's early history, 'Digital Gold.' 'A great milestone reached,' said another early bitcoin enthusiast on the message board congratulating Hanyecz. Tremendous growth It did not take long for bitcoin to take off after the first pizza deal. Bitcoin started getting more publicity and grew, thanks in part to the popularity of an online black-market site, Silk Road, which only accepted bitcoin. By February 2014, with bitcoin trading at around $600, Hanyecz marveled at what the digital currency had become. 'I mean people can say I'm stupid, but it was a great deal at the time,' Hanyecz wrote on the bitcoin message board. 'I don't think anyone could have known it would take off like this.' Five years later, when bitcoin was trading as high as $11,000, Hanyecz reflected on what buying that first pizza meant for bitcoin. 'It made it real for some people, I mean it certainly did for me,' Hanyecz said on the television show '60 minutes.' Hanyecz has largely stayed out of the public spotlight in recent years and efforts to contact him by The Associated Press were unsuccessful. All-time highs After many years of fits and starts, bitcoin now appears firmly entrenched in the mainstream financial system. While it hasn't taken off as a way to pay for everyday items like pizza, bitcoin has found popularity as a kind of 'digital gold,' or a way to store value. Retirement accounts can buy bitcoin ETFs, more and more companies buy bitcoin as corporate treasuries, and President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order establishing a government reserve of bitcoin. Bitcoin was trading at about $111,000 on Thursday morning — a new record. That price gives it a market cap of more than $2 trillion, or about the same as Amazon.
