What is Bitcoin Pizza Day?
22 May honors the first time a cryptocurrency- in this case Bitcoin- was used to buy real-world objects. It happened in 2010, and the objects happened to be pizzas! The story is best told in numbers:
May 18, 2010: The day upon which Laszlo Hanyecz, a programmer based in Florida, USA, got peckish and decided to test the existing boundaries of his professional field by ordering pizzas using cryptocurrency. Although he didn’t specify where or how the pizzas were made and delivered, he indicated a preference for pizzas from renowned restaurant chain, Papa John’s.
May 22, 2010: Since Papa John’s did not accept cryptocurrencies as a valid payment method at the time, he offered 10,000 BTC on Bitcointalk.org to anyone who would buy the crypto, purchase the pizzas for the equivalent USD amount, and deliver them. This was achieved on this day.
41 USD$: The amount that then teenage student, Jeremy Sturdivant, took up the offer for, bought the pizzas, and delivered them.
Two (2): The number of Papa John’s “The Works” pizzas that were delivered to Laszlo and family on that day.
$330.6419m: What 10,000 BTC in 2010 would’ve been worth twelve years later, in May 2022.
$710,983,000: What 10,000 BTC in 2010 would’ve been worth according to today’s exchange rate, 22 May 2024.
Why does Crystal celebrate Bitcoin Pizza Day?
Crystal is a leading blockchain intelligence and crypto crime investigations company. We celebrate this day as it signifies our industry’s recent recognition and integration with the traditional economy.
It was also the first time a decentralized financial token was commercially used, paving the way for our current position.