21 May Bitcoin Pizza Day: What is with Bitcoin & Pizza?
Bitcoin has come a long way. Starting as an idea shared in a closed group to become the main driver of the crypto economy today, Bitcoin, without a doubt, has many memorable stories to share. One of them is the famous Bitcoin pizza story. Bitcoin and pizza seem to have coincidentally built a special relationship along the way.
How it started…
It all started eleven years ago when a guy named Laszlo Hanyecz posted in the Bitcointalk forum his plan to buy two large-sized pizzas by exchanging the bitcoins he got from his mining activities.
“I’ll pay 10,000 bitcoins for a couple of pizzas.. like maybe 2 large ones so I have some left over for the next day.”
His post received some responses from the community, but it wasn’t immediately after that he got his wish fulfilled.
“So nobody wants to buy me pizza? Is the bitcoin amount I’m offering too low?”
Based on the value at the time, 10,000 bitcoins that Hanyecz offered were worth $41. He then further explained the reason behind his Bitcoin offering.
“I just think it would be interesting if I could say that I paid for a pizza in bitcoins 🙂”
Four days after posting his proposal on 22nd May 2010, Hanyecz gave an update on a successful trading transaction of 10,000 bitcoins for pizza, along with photos.
Find the real photos shared by Hanyecz.
How it’s been going…
Only a few months after the pizza transaction, Bitcoin’s price began to rise. In July 2010, it was valued at around $0.08, and in November 2010, it hit $0.50.
A user in the Bitcointalk forum commented on Hanyecz’s thread saying, “$600 is a great deal for pizza I thought?😁” He replied, “Well I didn’t expect this to be so popular but I can’t really afford to keep doing it since I can’t generate thousands of coins a day anymore. Thanks to everyone who bought me pizza already but I’m kind of holding off on doing any more of these for now.”
Years later, in an interview, Hanyecz admitted that that wasn’t the only time he spent his bitcoins on pizza. He estimated that he’d spent 100,000 items on various things, but mostly on pizza. When asked if he ever regretted his past decision of spending bitcoins to buy things, the Bitcoin pizza guy said that he tried not to think of it that way as it wouldn’t be good for him.
The Bitcoin pizza story has ever since become one of the most told stories of crypto. The day Hanyecz posted the successful Bitcoin-pizza transaction is celebrated as the Bitcoin Pizza day by the crypto community.
Another Bitcoin pizza story…
The Bitcoin pizza guy made another historical move. On the 25th February 2018, Hanyecz bought two pizzas via the then-new Bitcoin’s layer two protocol, the Lightning Network. This time though, he paid a sort of less amount than his previous transaction, 0.00649 bitcoins.
Hanyecz announced the transaction on the Lightning-dev mailing list, elaborating how the transaction took place, the reason behind his action, along with pictures of his family enjoying the pizzas.
“The goal was just to play around with c-lightning and do something more than shuffling a few satoshi back and forth. Maybe eventually pizza shops will have their own lightning nodes and I can open channels to them directly.”
Find the real pictures shared by Hanyecz!
As one of the pioneers in the crypto space, Bitfinex feels responsible for supporting technological developments to help achieve mass adoption of cryptocurrencies, such as the Lightning Network. We do our part by integrating the Lightning Network on the Bitfinex platform. Bitfinex lightning nodes are in the top 3 of public nodes with the biggest capacity, and we’re continuously working on adding new Lightning features.
A Bitcoin pizza movement?
The Bitcoin pizza story never gets old within the crypto community. The crypto media often brings up the story to highlight how Bitcoin’s value has significantly increased with time.
Bitcoin pizza has also been used as a brand name for some crypto businesses. Has it become a symbol of movement within the crypto community? Only time will tell. For now, the story provides everyone with the easiest way to describe the growth of Bitcoin value and its potential.
Find out more about the Lightning Network integration on Bitfinex. If you’re unfamiliar with the Lightning Network, learn more about it here. Happy Bitcoin pizza day! 🍕