On May 22, 2010, Las Vegas programmer Laszlo Heinitz, using the help of the Bitcointalk forum, paid for two Papa John’s pizzas not with traditional money, but with a little-known cryptocurrency at that time called Bitcoin.
Buying two pizzas cost him 10,000 BTC, which at that time was about $25. At today’s exchange rate, this would be about $474 million.
It’s interesting that Laszlo Heinitz didn’t pay for the pizza personally to a pizzeria courier, but used services of a third party who bought the pizza and received 10,000 BTC from Laszlo in return.
This was the first transaction made using Bitcoin, and this day was called Bitcoin Pizza Day. Traditionally, on this holiday, bitcoin programmers and miners eat pizza and talk about missed opportunities.
How Much Would These Two Pizzas Cost Now
Even at the time of buying pizza, some users of the forum said that Laszlo was overpaying a bit. Still, they had no idea how right they were.
As for the exchange rate for August 2021, two large pizzas from Papa Jones cost Mr. Heinitz about $475 million. And if we recall that the BTC exchange rate reached $65,000, at the moment Heinitz could have a fortune of $650 million.
Throughout 2010, Laszlo bought pizza for another 100,000 BTC or almost 4.7 billion at current exchange rates.
Bitcoin Pizza Day
Today, May 22 is a kind of holiday for crypto enthusiasts. In addition to joking, this day symbolizes that even if only a few people take technology seriously at first, it could change dramatically in the future.
So, Bitcoin Pizza Day is the main holiday for so-called hodlers — people who believe that Bitcoin should be accumulated, because one day it will replace traditional fiat money.
Today it seems that this day is either very far away or will never come at all. Probably, Laszlo Heinitz once thought so as well.
Laszlo Heinitz
The protagonist of this story has given many interviews and always says that he has no regrets. Although Heinitz is mostly mentioned in the context of Bitcoin Pizza Day, in fact, he has made a significant contribution to the development of the cryptocurrency industry, including mining, by making it exactly as we know it today. By the way, he was one of the first to come up with the idea of using a video card for mining.
Do you celebrate Bitcoin Pizza Day? Feel free to share your stories in the comments!
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