The Bitcoin Pizza Day: a piece of blockchain history
15 years ago, the first Bitcoin payment for a good of the physical world – a pizza – was made. Since then, the milestone has been celebrated by the “Bitcoin Pizza Day”, which is supposed to remind you of this historical transaction for cryptocurrency.
On this day, May 22nd, the Bitcoin community celebrates an unusual but humorous milestone. The Bitcoin Pizza Day celebrates the unique moment at which the theoretical concept Bitcoin (BTC) became a practical means of payment. As an exchange for two pizzas, a member of the Bitcointalk-Forums 10,000 Bitcoin – for today's maximum class over 1.1 billion USD.
The story of Pizza Day
Over a decade ago, May 22, 2010, a software developer named Laszlo Hanyecz carried out an extraordinary transaction, which was later to become an important part of the Bitcoin folklore. Hanyecz lived in Florida and was looking for two big pizzas. This action itself was hardly remarkable. It was really exceptional, however, that he wanted to pay his meal with Bitcoin and thus carried out one of the first commercial transactions with the emerging digital currency.
In the BitcoinTalk forum, in which the Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto was also active, Hanyecz asked if someone would deliver two pizzas for 10,000 BTC. The deliverer was able to bake the pizzas himself or order in a restaurant. Only after three days and repeated inquiries did a 19-year-old student spoke up and provided the software developer two pizzas of Papa John's chain. The 10,000 Bitcoin – worth a considerable assets today – immediately spent on video games.
A historical milestone
In 2010, Bitcoin was barely a year old and still largely speculative. The 10,000 bitcoins, which Hanyecz paid, were worth about $ 41 – an appropriate amount for two large pizzas. Bitcoin Pizza Day is not just about the price of these two pizzas. When Hanyecz completed the transaction, he demonstrated that Bitcoin could be used as a medium. This is a decisive feature of every currency. According to the developer, Bitcoin was an interesting system, but nobody used the cryptocurrency as a means of payment. “And if nobody uses it, it doesn't matter how many Bitcoin I have.”
