Happy Bitcoin Pizza Day!
The anniversary of the legendary Bitcoin transaction explained!
Fourteen years ago today, on May 22, 2010, one of the most legendary Bitcoin transactions ever took place. It was supposedly the first trade in which Bitcoin was exchanged as money for another commodity. In hindsight, however, this trade was probably also the most expensive pizza purchase in world history. The fact that two pizzas were exchanged for 10,000 BTC still makes the story a long-running story in view of today's exchange rates, which is regularly brought up again in various media and social networks. For the Bitcoin scene, however, this day was more than just a funny story that is told over and over again. It was the day on which Bitcoin began its journey to becoming money.
A simple offer
At the time, Laszlo Hanyecz, an American programmer from Jacksonville (Florida), would never have dreamed that a simple offer to exchange useless internet money for two pizzas would still be hotly debated and go down in history more than a decade later.
I'll pay 10,000 Bitcoins for a couple of pizzas... maybe two large ones so I have some left over for the next day. I like having leftover 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 service, but what I have in mind is getting food delivered in exchange for bitcoins that I don't have to order or prepare myself. Like when you order a "breakfast platter" at a hotel or something, they just bring you something to eat and you're happy! I like onions, peppers, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes, pepperoni etc, just standard stuff, no weird fish toppings or anything like that. I also like regular cheese pizzas, which might be cheaper to make or buy elsewhere. If you're interested, please let me know and we can work out a deal. Thanks a lot! Laszlo
Laszlo Hanyecz, 18.05.2010
Hanyecz posted this request online in the Bitcoin forum bitcointalk.org on May 18, 2010. So it took a whole four days for someone to get involved in this trade. In today's world, it would probably take less than four seconds to find someone willing to trade 10,000 BTC for two pizzas. In the meantime, Laszlo was even worried that the amount of Bitcoin he was offering was not high enough.
On May 21, he wrote:
'Doesn't anyone want to get me a pizza? Is the amount of bitcoins I'm offering perhaps not high enough?
Laszlo Hanyecz, 21.05.2010
Buyer found
On 22.05.2010, the time had finally come. The then 19-year-old student Jeremy Sturdivant, who went by the user name "Jercos" online, agreed to accept the 10,000 BTC as payment for the pizzas. The two contacted each other via Internet Relay Chat (IRC) to process the transaction. A few hours later, Hanyecz happily announced on bitcointalk.org:
I just wanted to report that I successfully exchanged 10,000 bitcoins for pizzas. Thank you jercos!
Laszlo Hanyecz, 22.05.2010
As proof, he had also attached some pictures of the delivered pizzas to his message.
Expensive pizzas - annoying, isn't it?
Back then, in May 2010, 10,000 Bitcoins were worth around 40 US dollars. Today, fourteen years later, they are worth around 700,000,000 US dollars.
One fact that many people don't know, however, is that it actually didn't stop at those two pizzas and the one-off transaction. Laszlo wrote at the time:
This is an open-ended offer by the way... I will trade 10,000 BTC for two of these pizzas anytime as long as I have the funds (I usually have plenty). If anyone is interested, please let me know. The swap is cheap for anyone who does it because the two pizzas only cost about $25 total, maybe $30 if you give the guy a nice tip. If they get me the extra large pizzas or something, I can throw in a few more bitcoins, just let me know and we'll work something out.
Laszlo Hanyecz, 12.06.2010
In the weeks that followed, Hanyecz was to buy many more pizzas at a price of 5,000BTC each. However, as the hashrate for mining in the network increased significantly during this time, making it more difficult for an individual to mine hundreds or even thousands of coins a day on their computer at home, Hanyecz eventually ran out of Bitcoin to continue financing these deals. Moreover, 10,000 BTC were already worth $600 in August 2010, which made pizzas very expensive even then.
Now, I didn't expect this to become so popular, but I can't really afford to keep doing it since I can't generate thousands of coins per day anymore. Thanks to everyone who has already bought me pizza, but I'm holding off on doing any more of these deals for now.
Laszlo Hanyecz, 04.08.2010
Even back then, the forum was already making fun of the fact that Hanyecz had probably paid far too much for the pizzas, as 10,000 BTC was already worth more than $2,000 at the time. This is why many people are of the opinion that Laszlo Hanyecz is probably angry as hell these days when he thinks about how much money he gave away back then.
In fact, however, he has since confirmed in several interviews that he is not at all angry about it. He is happy to have become part of (Bitcoin) history. After all, he was the one who got the first stone rolling that set off the Bitcoin avalanche.
What actually happened to the 10,000 BTC back then?
As described earlier in the text, student Jeremy Sturdivant received the 10,000 BTC back then.
Anyone who thinks that he is now a multi-millionaire enjoying his life of luxury somewhere in the sun is far from the truth. Back then, the passionate gamer invested the Bitcoin in computer games worth around 400 US dollars.
But he also said in an interview with "bitcoinwhoswho" that he had no regrets. According to his own statements, he already knew to a certain extent back then that he was about to be part of a precedent and make history. He is convinced that Bitcoin should be used as money and that only people like him, who actually used it in an economic sense, gave it any value at all.
Bitcoin as a currency is meant to be spent. Those 10,000 BTC came back into the economy pretty quickly [...]. Of course, there will always be people hoarding coins and trying to get rich, and a few people have gotten pretty rich, but they wouldn't have gotten so rich if economic growth hadn't allowed it. To that extent, my Bitcoin holdings tend to be in the hundreds or thousands of USD, simply because I use them much like a checking account to transact both online and offline when I have the opportunity.
Jeremey "jerco" Sturdivant
What are Hanyecz and Sturdivant doing today?
Neither Hanyecz nor Sturdivant are living the high life today. According to our research, both lead a down-to-earth white-collar life. Pizza buyer Laszlo's last known job was as a programmer at a backpack manufacturer, which incidentally even accepted Bitcoin at the time thanks to its famous employee. What he does today and whether he is still employed by the company is not entirely clear, however, as Hanyecz lives away from the public eye.
Jeremy Sturdivant worked for a time in California for a manufacturer of radio equipment in product development. There is also no more precise information on whether he is still employed there today.
Actually the first Bitcoin trade?
Incidentally, there is no consensus today as to whether "Pizza Day" was actually the first trade of Bitcoin for a real asset. Back on January 24, 2010, a few months before Laszlo Hanyecz, the user "Sabunir" posted a request in the bitcointalk forum asking whether anyone would like to purchase a picture he had created for 500 BTC (worth around one US dollar in total at the time).
Hello everyone. I have decided to give Bitcoin a try. As a test, I want to see if I can earn 1 USD by selling a picture. According to this, 500 bitcoins should equal about a dollar (after PayPal fees), right? [...] To get the image, please send me the coins and then send me a private message stating the time you sent them. I will then reply to your private message with a link to the picture.
Sabunir, 24.01.2010
Although the rest of the thread does not reveal whether the sale actually took place, the Bitcoin address linked by Sabunir shows a transaction for 500BTC on February 24, 2010, which suggests that the sale may have taken place. Whether this is actually the case, however, remains unclear. This does not really diminish the significance of "Bitcoin Pizza Day" and Laszlo Hanyecz's action anyway.
