On May 22, 2010, Bitcoin became more than an idea: he became real money. Laszlo Hanject, developer and taxpayer early to the Bitcoin code base, aware An informal offer: “I will pay 10,000 bitcoins for a couple of pizzas.” Five days later, someone took it. Two Pope John pizzas were delivered. A screenshot was published. Bitcoin had entered the real world.
That 10,000 Bitcoin, with a value of approximately $ 41 at that time, is now valued at more than $ 1.1 billion. And with Bitcoin reaching a new historical maximum of $ 111,999 on the 15th anniversary of the transaction, the history of the “Bitcoin Pizza” has more weight than ever.
It wasn’t just pizza. This was the moment when Bitcoin proved to be a coin in operation. Until then, he had lived mainly in theory and code, carved by cryptographers and extracted by fans. The publication of Hanject, and the trade that followed, transformed the idea into action. “This transaction caused real bitcoin to be real in my eyes”, He said in a 2019 interview. “It didn’t value much at that time. I wouldn’t have spent $ 100 million on pizza, right? But if I hadn’t done that, maybe Bitcoin wouldn’t have become so popular.”
During the summer of 2010, Han S legan continued to buy pizzas, finally spending more than 79,000 BTC, now for a value of almost $ 8.7 billion. While some have joked at their expense, the truth is this: without those first real world transactions, Bitcoin could never have demonstrated their use case. Hanject helped to move Bitcoin from the strip to functionality.
That legacy still makes us shape today. Bitcoin’s pizza day has become a cultural milestone in the cryptographic world, with meetings, pizza parties and educational events held throughout May 22. The day serves as a reminder of how far technology has come, and the importance of daily actions and the impact they have.
Just this week, the fast food chain Shak ‘N Shake began to accept Bitcoin through the light network, indicating a growing conventional adoption wave. What once felt experimental is now becoming part of everyday trade.
Bitcoin Pizza Day is about recognition. A simple transaction showed that Bitcoin could work, and 15 years later, the world is still based on that first bite.
