Fourteen years ago, someone bought pizza with Bitcoin

It
was,
back
then,
a
new
transaction,
conceived
from
peer-to-peer
friendships,
and
dedicated
to

the
proposition
that
commerce
on
the
Internet
has
come
to
rely
almost
exclusively
on
financial
institutions.

Now
we
are
almost
a
decade
and
a
half
on,
in
a
movement
that
could
test
whether
the
ideas
conceived
by
Satoshi
Nakamoto
can
endure.
We
are
met
with
regulatory
hurdles,
we
have
come
to
a
point
where
the
people
are
divided
as
a
new
regime
looms
ahead.
Many
of
us
have
dedicated
our
lives
so
that
this
idea
lives
on.

It
is
altogether
fitting
and
proper
that
we
should
keep
building
and
sharing,
believing
that
crypto
as
a
movement
will
always
take
us
forward.
Now
let’s
look
back.

Bitcoin
Pizza
Day

On
May
22,
2010,
a
programmer
named
Laszlo
Hanyecz
made
history
by
purchasing
two
pizzas
for
10,000
BTC,
marking
the
first
time
a
cryptocurrency
was
used
for
a
commercial
transaction.
This
event,
now
known
as
Bitcoin
Pizza
Day,
is
celebrated
annually
by
the
global
crypto
community
as
a
reminder
of
Bitcoin’s
humble
beginnings
and
the
incredible
progress
made
since
then.

Hanyecz,
a
programmer
from
Jacksonville,
Florida,
posted
his
offer
on
the
Bitcointalk
forum,
one
of
the
earliest
online
communities
centered
on
Bitcoin.

As
one
of
the
earliest
crypto
enthusiasts
and
innovators,
Hanyecz
contributed
to
early
developments
in
Bitcoin
mining,

publishing
software
to
improve
mining
efficiency
for
GPUs.

At
the
time,
no
one
could
have
predicted
the
significance
of
this
transaction
or
the
astronomical
value
that
10,000
BTC
would
hold
in
the
future.
Today,
that
amount
of
Bitcoin
is
worth
approximately
$692
million.

Looking
back,
Hanyecz
harbors
no
regrets
over
the
historic
purchase.
“Someone
had
to
start
it,”
he
says.

Bitcoin
Pizza
Days
reminds
us
of
the
incredible
journey
that
started
with
a
simple
pizza
purchase.
It’s
a
testament
to
the
power
of
innovation
and
community
and
the
potential
for
crypto
to
transform
the
way
we
think
about
and
use
money,
programmable
or
otherwise.