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Bitcoin Pizza Day: Rs 364 crore per slice of pizza! Once worthless, how has Bitcoin changed the world of cryptocurrencies?
Truth is stranger than fiction, Mark Twain once said. The world of cryptocurrencies is no exception. Get this: In hindsight, someone is regretting exchanging Bitcoin for two large pizzas, around 14 years ago: The Bitcoin he paid for each individual slice then is worth Rs 364 crore today!
This is a programmer from Florida named Laszlo Hanyecz, who bought two large pizzas and paid 10,000 Bitcoin for them. This was the first real-world transaction ever recorded using a crypto asset, and marked May 22 as Bitcoin Pizza Day.
Plus, it actually took almost four days for the exchange to happen!
Hanyecz announced on the Bitcointalk.org forum on May 18, 2010 that he intended to use Bitcoin to buy pizza. He was willing to pay 10,000 Bitcoin to anyone who could place an order. On May 22, 2010, Jeremy Sturdivant, then nineteen, started turning heads on the forum. He accepted the offer of 10,000 Bitcoin for two pizzas, then valued at around 41 dollars.
If Hanyecz had held those 10,000 Bitcoins today, they would be worth a whopping Rs 58,23,33,56,700, or Rs 5,823 crore, today. Each pizza was worth more than Rs 2,911.66 crore (as per today’s calculation, Bitcoin price is Rs 58,23,335.67) to him as of today. Considering eight slices in a large pizza, each slice would be worth Rs 364 crore today.
You might think that Laszlo Hanyecz wasn’t smart enough not to hold on to his 10,000 Bitcoins, which would be worth a fortune today.
However, his purchase was crucial as it was the first successful business transaction using Bitcoin. If Hanyecz hadn’t bought those pizzas, Bitcoin might not have proven its real-world usefulness, said Edul Patel, CEO of Mudrex.
“This transaction showcased Bitcoin’s potential as a medium of exchange, contributing to its credibility and adoption. Thus, its seemingly modest purchase played a crucial role in establishing Bitcoin’s value and fueling its growth to become a mainstream financial asset. This event highlights Bitcoin’s evolution from an experiment to a mainstream financial asset,” adds Patel.
In hindsight, today’s calculation might seem ridiculous to many, but the event makes history for paving the way for crypto-commerce or giving birth to cryptocurrencies as an alternative payment mode. The fashion novelty is celebrated by cryptocurrency fanatics around the world.
Bitcoin Pizza Day marks Bitcoin’s transition from a niche hobby for cryptographers and technologists to a more mainstream economic tool, said Sumit Gupta, co-founder of CoinDCX. It’s hard to predict exactly because it’s a cultural phenomenon, but the adoption of bitcoin and even cryptocurrencies could have probably been even slower if the forum member hadn’t accepted the exchange, he said.
“The value of Bitcoin could have followed a different trajectory. This iconic event contributed to Bitcoin’s narrative and early community engagement. Without it, Bitcoin’s price action could have been very different and adoption could have been been much lower. If Bitcoin Pizza Day hadn’t happened some other well-known food or product might have gotten this distinction,” adds Gupta on a lighter note.
Bitcoin has come a long way from its inception to governments around the world approving Bitcoin spot ETFs. Bitcoin is recognized as a profitable investment by retail and institutional investors. The digital asset class has delivered multibagger returns to investors in recent months, reaching new all-time highs of $73,750.07 two months ago. It is currently around $70,000.
Rajagopal Menon, VP, WazirX highlighted the opportunity cost of long-term investments in Bitcoin. “Laszlo’s pioneering use of GPUs for mining also spurred innovation in hardware and specialized mining techniques. Buying a pizza demonstrated the real-world utility of Bitcoin and opened up the path to its future growth,” he said.
Bitcoin Pizza Day was a significant day in the history of blockchain, leading to many new fads such as stablecoins, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), decentralized finance (DeFi), and new innovations in the blockchain universe. However, volatility and unregulated status continue to be a concern for digital asset classes around the world.