Bitcoin Pizza Day: The Story Behind the First-Ever Real-World BTC Transaction

13 years ago today, the first known real-world BTC transaction was made, when a BTC miner named Laszlo Hanyecz had two boxes of Papa John’s Pizza in Jacksonville, Florida, for 10,000 BTC.

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  • 13 years ago today, the first known real-world BTC transaction was made.
  • It was when a BTC miner named Laszlo Hanyecz had two boxes of Papa John’s Pizza in Jacksonville, Florida, for 10,000 BTC.
  • However, the first-ever purchase was not directly bought using BTC. The 19-year-old Jeremy Sturdivant bought two boxes of Papa John’s pizza for $25 dollars, then the pizzas ordered were delivered to Hanyecz’s home, then Hanyecz paid Jercos his 10,000 $BTC.

TIME FLIES SO FAST. 

Thirteen years ago today, a historic purchase was made using the first-ever cryptocurrency that existed in the space, Bitcoin. It was when a BTC miner named Laszlo Hanyecz made the first known real-world BTC transaction by buying two boxes of Papa John’s Pizza in Jacksonville, Florida, for 10,000 BTC.

Who is Laszlo Hanyecz?

Laszlo Hanyecz is a Florida-based computer programmer and was one of the early adopters of Bitcoin. 

He was a solid contributor during the initial years of BTC’s development—known for his work on a primitive version of a tool for mining Bitcoin that allowed Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) to do the work, making the mining process more efficient.

The Purchase

Then, on May 18, 2010, Hanyecz posted on a forum on Bitcointalk.org, telling that he was looking to buy two large boxes of pizza using 10,000 $BTC and deliver them to his home. 

“I like things like onions, peppers, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes, pepperoni, etc. Just standard stuff, no weird fish topping or anything like that… If you’re interested please let me know and we can work out a deal,” his post read. 

The post gained no response days after it was posted. But on May 22, a forum user in the UK  known as “Jercos” agreed to take up the offer and ordered two pizzas for delivery to Hanyecz from Papa John’s. 

So basically, the first-ever purchase was not directly bought using BTC. The 19-year-old Jeremy Sturdivant fir bought two boxes of Papa John’s pizza for $25 dollars, then the pizzas ordered were delivered to Hanyecz’s home, then Hanyecz paid Jercos his 10,000 $BTC. 

Closing Thoughts

Though in today’s era, 10,000 BTC is really expensive in terms of fiat value, Hanyecz expressed in several media interviews that he did not regret his decision, adding that he is proud of being part of BTC’s history and its use as a medium of exchange. 

If we have to convert 10,000 BTC to BTC’s all-time high of $68,789.63 in 2021, it could be worth up to $687,896,300, or about ₱38,489,861,673.90. That is about 50 million boxes of Papa John’s 14-inch Super Papa pizzas.

However, is it worth it to regret Hanyecz’s decision? Well, if this did not happen, we would have no Bitcoin Pizza Day to celebrate each year. (And no free pizza from organizers.)

Also, the number of businesses and merchants accepting BTC as a payment has increased quickly. 

In the Philippines alone, Boracay has more than 250 merchants accepting BTC, from the foods and beverage industry to even printing shops. Thanks to Pouch.ph’s initiative, now, the Bitcoin Island is not just in Boracay but is now also in Cebu City, Dumaguete, and Bacolod.

Bitcoin Pizza Day in PH

Last year, on May 22, 2022, BitPinas joined the local and wider crypto community in celebrating Bitcoin Pizza Day. Organized by Draper Startup House Manila and Pizza DAO, the meetup brought in builders and enthusiasts in one room to discuss Bitcoin, NFT, and the future of crypto. The event was also made possible by RarePizzas and PDAX.

On April 22, 2023, Ownly, NFT Philippines, and Crypto Bilis NFT collectively organized the Pizza Day Pre-Party:

“Bitcoin Pizza day is annually celebrated during 22nd of May, but we want to kickoff the celebration by gathering with our community a month early.”

Then for this year, Draper Startup House Manila is set to have its 3rd Annual Global Pizza Party on May 22. 

This article is published on BitPinas: BITCOIN PIZZA DAY: The Story Behind the First-Ever Real-World BTC Transaction

Disclaimer: BitPinas articles and its external content are not financial advice. The team serves to deliver independent, unbiased news to provide information for Philippine-crypto and beyond.

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