On May 22, 2010, a programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz made history. He paid 10,000 Bitcoin for two pizzas. At the time, those 10,000 Bitcoin were worth about $41. As of 2025, they would be worth over $700 million. It is often called the most expensive pizza order in history – but that framing misses the point entirely.
The Story
In May 2010, Bitcoin was barely a year old. There were no exchanges, no price charts, and no way to easily convert Bitcoin into dollars. The tiny community of Bitcoin enthusiasts communicated primarily on the Bitcointalk forum, and most of them were mining Bitcoin on their laptops as a hobby.
Laszlo Hanyecz was a Florida-based programmer who had been an early contributor to the Bitcoin project. He had mined thousands of Bitcoin and wanted to prove that Bitcoin could be used as actual money – not just a digital curiosity. So on May 18, 2010, he posted a simple request on Bitcointalk:
I will pay 10,000 bitcoins for a couple of pizzas.. like maybe 2 large ones so I have some left over for the next day. I like having left over pizza to nibble on later. You can make the pizza yourself and bring it to my house or order it for me from a delivery place, but what I am aiming for is getting food delivered in exchange for bitcoins where I do not have to order or prepare it myself, kind of like ordering a ‘breakfast plate’ at a hotel or something, they just bring you something to eat and you are happy!
For four days, no interest. Then, on May 22, a user named Jeremy Sturdivant (using the handle “jercos”) accepted the deal. He ordered two large pizzas from Papa John’s and had them delivered to Laszlo’s house in Jacksonville, Florida. Laszlo posted photos of the pizzas, and the deal was done.
Why It Matters
The pizza transaction was not just a quirky story – it was a watershed moment for Bitcoin. Here is why:
It Proved Bitcoin Had Real-World Value
Before the pizza transaction, Bitcoin was essentially worthless in practical terms. You could not buy anything with it. The pizza transaction demonstrated that Bitcoin could be exchanged for real goods and services. It was the first known commercial transaction using Bitcoin, and it established a price: 10,000 BTC = $41, or about $0.0041 per Bitcoin.
It Created a Community Tradition
May 22 became known as “Bitcoin Pizza Day,” celebrated annually by the Bitcoin community around the world. Every year, Bitcoiners order pizza, share stories, and reflect on how far the technology has come. It is a reminder of Bitcoin’s humble beginnings and the community spirit that drove its early growth.
It Demonstrated Bitcoin’s Use Case
Laszlo did not just want pizza – he wanted to prove that Bitcoin worked as money. In his own words: “It was a really useful way to get bitcoins out there and show that you can use them for something.” He understood that for Bitcoin to succeed, people needed to actually use it, not just mine it and hold it.
Laszlo’s Perspective
Contrary to popular belief, Laszlo does not regret the transaction. In interviews, he has consistently said that he does not think about what those 10,000 Bitcoin would be worth today. His reasoning is characteristically Bitcoin-maximalist: “I think that it is great that I was able to contribute to the early economy of Bitcoin, and I am glad that I was able to do my part to help it grow.”
Laszlo also points out that he did not just make one pizza transaction – he repeated the process many times, spending a total of around 100,000 Bitcoin on pizza in 2010. At today’s prices, that would be billions of dollars. But Laszlo’s response is always the same: those Bitcoin would never have been worth anything if people had not spent them.
The Bigger Lesson
The Bitcoin Pizza Day story is often told as a cautionary tale about spending Bitcoin. But that is the wrong lesson. The real lesson is about the nature of money and value. In 2010, 10,000 Bitcoin bought two pizzas. Today, those same 10,000 Bitcoin could buy a small island. The pizza did not change – the market’s understanding of Bitcoin’s value changed.
It is also a reminder that every transformative technology goes through an early phase where it seems trivial. The first email was sent in 1971. The first website went live in 1991. The first Bitcoin pizza was ordered in 2010. In each case, the early adopters could not have imagined what they were building.
Celebrating Bitcoin Pizza Day
Every May 22, the Bitcoin community comes together to celebrate. Some order pizza and pay with Bitcoin. Others share their Bitcoin origin stories. Exchanges run promotions. It is a day of reflection, celebration, and gratitude for the quirky, passionate community that built Bitcoin from nothing.
So the next time someone tells you about the “most expensive pizza in history,” you can tell them the real story: it is not about the money that was spent. It is about the moment Bitcoin proved it was real.