Bitcoin is associated with many interesting facts and events: from finding out the name of the developer to exchanging it for real goods. The world’s first and most expensive pizza for bitcoins was purchased on May 22, 2010 by Laszlo Heinitz, who paid 10 thousand BTC for it. This date is now called Bitcoin Pizza Day.
The most expensive dinner in the history of mankind
It all started on May 18, 2010. On the famous BitcoinTalk forum, developer Laszlo Hejnitz wrote that he was ready to pay 10 thousand BTC if someone would order him 2 pizzas.
Today this amount seems high, but back then the price was different. The value of the cryptocurrency was $0.003 and $0.004. Therefore, the rate of 10 thousand BTC was equivalent to 40 USD, which is close to the price of 2 large pizzas. Heinitz believed that he got the food for free at that point, since he was mining for a hobby.
No one responded to the first appeal. Therefore, the engineer updated the post on May 21, 2010, in which he wrote that the offered price was probably not high enough, since there were no people willing to make the exchange. Later, student Jeremy Stardivent (username Jercos) fulfilled the request and ordered two pizzas at Papa John’s in Jacksonville, Florida, Heinitz’s hometown. After receiving the order, Laszlo sent the young man an email thanking him.
After this event, a date and photo of famous pizzas appeared on the facade of Papa John’s.
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The birth of BTC
In 2007, Satoshi Nakamoto began working on Bitcoin. The following events occurred prior to the historic purchase:
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2008 | The domain name bitcoin.org was bought by a developer. Satoshi wrote an article titled “Electronic money without a trusted third party”. Cryptocurrency announcement. The concept is published on a mailing list. |
| 2009 | Launch of the network and creation of the first blockchain. Bitcoin-0.1.0 software version (software) is published. First transaction between Satoshi Nakamoto and Hal Finney. Announcement on a forum about the creation of bitcoins. For August 2009, 1564 blocks mined instead of the expected 4464. First estimate of the digital coin’s value: 0.001 USD. Sale of BTC in USD: Marty Malmy gave 5050 bitcoins for $5.02 transferred to him on PayPal by user NewLibertyStandard. BitcoinTalk forum opening. Version 0.2 of the software. For the first time the mining difficulty became greater than 1. |
| 2010 | NewLibertyStandard on BitcoinTalk forum proposed to accept BTC as a digital coin code. Opening of the first cryptocurrency/fiat money exchange. Laszlo Heinitz, a developer from Florida, mined cryptocurrency on a GPU (graphics processing unit). He then bought food for 10,000 coins. This is the first known exchange of bitcoins for a physical commodity. |
A profitable purchase of two pizzas
At the exchange rate of the time, 10,000 BTC was equal to about $40. The price of the cryptocurrency continued to rise:
- In 2020, 10 thousand Bitcoin was already equivalent to $45 million dollars.
- On October 20, 2021, a pizza would be worth more than $666.8 million USD.
Transaction links
The first transaction has a hash of a1075db55d416d3ca199f55b6084e2115b9345e16c5cf302fc80e9d5fbf5d48d. Any user can verify the transfer in a blockchain browser – such as Blockchain.
The fate of a man who bought a pizza for bitcoin
Laszlo Heinitz has a reputation of someone who lost a fortune because he wanted to eat. People ironically commented on Laszlo’s post with questions like “Do you want to buy a pizza for 2.6 thousand dollars?” and so on. In August 2010, BitcoinTalk participants wrote that food now costs $600. Others asked if his offer still stands.
Laszlo Heinitz replied, “I didn’t expect the purchase to become so popular, but I can’t afford to do it again. I can’t mine thousands of coins a day. Thanks to everyone who bought me food, but I’ll keep bitcoins.”
Laszlo had no regrets about his deal. He explained to the New York Times that he thought the idea was interesting: “Not that bitcoins had any value. At the time, the idea of exchanging them was just cool. No one suspected it would take on such a scale.” A few years later, Heinitz sold the cryptocurrency when its value reached a dollar per Bitcoin. He spent the proceeds on a computer and video cards.
In February 2019, another transaction involving Laszlo Hejnitz took place. He again exchanged bitcoins for 2 pizzas, paying much less money. It cost him 649 thousand satoshis, which corresponded to 0.00649 BTC. The transaction fee amounted to 6 cents.
In 2019, Laszlo gave an interview to CNN. When asked how he manages to be calm knowing that he could have become a multimillionaire by saving 10,000 BTC, the developer replied, “I don’t regret it. I think it’s good to be part of the beginning of the Bitcoin story.”
Bitcoin Pizza Day
The celebration of the first transaction made using BTC began in 2014. According to Bitcoin Magazine, the date became known after articles appeared in the media (New York Times and others).
Now, the cryptocurrency community celebrates Bitcoin Pizza Day on the day the first exchange of bitcoins for real goods was made. Companies and coin users around the world remember Heinitz on social media and exchange cryptocurrency for pizza. Many accounts have been created on Twitter, where the event is discussed among subscribers.
In honor of the holiday, they organize events for the manufacture and delivery of pizza. Bitcoin Pizza launched a promotion when participants could order food with crypto themes. Suppliers are offering discounts and companies related to digital currencies are taking the opportunity to present their ideas.
Frequently asked questions
❓ What were some of the ways the cryptocurrency was promoted in the Bitcoin community?
It was handed out on the forum to anyone who wanted it. Coins were also obtained through faucets.
❕ What was Bitcoin created for?
Satoshi Nakamoto started a project that would be better than traditional money.
📊 What is the Pizza Index?
It is the current conversion of the cost of 2 pizzas to dollars. The index was 41 USD in 2010.
🔧 Who started mining bitcoins?
Laszlo Heinitz was one of the first miners in history. He even exchanged messages with Satoshi Nakamoto while mining BTC.
🍕 Why did the story of the purchased pizza become so famous?
It’s important to history because it’s the first time anything from the real world was purchased with cryptocurrency.
🕙 When did interest in cryptocurrency first emerge?
After publishing an article on the P2P Foundation forum, in which BTC was presented as an alternative to fiat money and where Satoshi talked about the main disadvantages of the latter.
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Author: Saifedean Ammous, an expert in cryptocurrency economics.
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