Portuguese 
English 
Spanish 
3 min of reading 
1 comment 
In May 2010, a programmer from Florida starred in what would years later be called the most expensive pizza order in history by using Bitcoin. Laszlo Hanyecz exchanged 10,000 bitcoins for two pizzas, in a transaction that became a milestone in the history of cryptocurrencies. At the time, the value of the pizzas was only US$ 25, but the bitcoins used in the purchase now exceed US$ 1 billion.
It all started with a simple post on a Bitcoin forum on May 18, 2010. Hanyecz offered 10,000 bitcoins in exchange for two pizzas and even specified his favorite toppings: “onions, peppers, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes, and pepperoni.” The programmer made it clear that he didn’t want “strange toppings with fish” and mentioned he liked to have leftovers to eat later. Four days later, a British user named “jercos” accepted the order, bought the pizzas from Papa John’s for US$ 25, and sent them to Hanyecz.
At that moment, the 10,000 bitcoins were worth about US$ 41, but the importance of the transaction was elsewhere. It was the first time a digital currency was used to acquire a physical product, marking a crucial moment for Bitcoin. In an interview with the 60 Minutes program, Hanyecz explained his motivation: “I thought it was really cool to be able to say I traded this digital money for something real.”
Bitcoins for Pizzas…
Upon receiving the pizzas, he confirmed on the forum that the exchange had been completed, briefly thanking the facilitator: “thanks, jercos.” He even shared a photo of the pizzas with his children, not imagining that, years later, that order would become legendary.
-
End of the dream of home ownership: construction companies defrauded Brazilian families with Caixa’s money, received more than 80% of financing up to R$ 500,000, abandoned projects, left debts over R$ 200,000, and properties threatened with auction after suspicious reports.
-
Government puts R$ 2 billion on the table for highway construction connecting two states in Brazil, but report reveals risk of losses of R$ 1.9 billion and economic viability considered “statistically null”
-
Oil market could enter a real panic as early as the beginning of June if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed and stocks reach their limit, warns research company.
-
TikTok’s data center in Ceará closes a deal worth R$ 10 billion, but the most strategic detail of this billion-dollar project lies in the energy that will power one of the largest digital operations in Latin America.
Since then, the valuation of Bitcoin has been meteoric. Nine months after the purchase, the cryptocurrency reached parity with the dollar, which meant that the 10,000 bitcoins used in the transaction were already worth US$ 10,000. Fast forward to today, the current value of those same 10,000 bitcoins reaches an impressive US$ 1,024,825,000 (about R$ 5 billion). This makes each pizza from the purchase worth an estimated US$ 512,412,500 (or about R$ 2.5 billion).
Extreme Valuation
The episode, which at first glance seemed like a simple exchange, demonstrated the potential of Bitcoin as a means of exchange and was a milestone in the history of cryptocurrencies. However, the extreme valuation of Bitcoin over the years has made transactions of this kind practically unfeasible. Despite this, the “Bitcoin Pizza Day,” as it became known, continues to be celebrated by cryptocurrency enthusiasts around the world as the moment Bitcoin entered the everyday lives of people.
And so, what started with a desire for pizza transformed into one of the most iconic stories in the cryptocurrency universe, reinforcing Bitcoin’s impact on the global economy and immortalizing Laszlo’s pizzas as a milestone in the history of cryptocurrencies.
Anúncio Inconveniente por ficar estampado na parte escrita da reportagem