On May 22, 2010, Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas that would later be valued at over $400 million. Why the massive price tag? Hanyecz paid for his pizzas with 10,000 Bitcoins, which at the time were worth a measly $41. Hanyecz sent them to a 19-year-old California student named Jeremy Sturdivant, who in exchange ordered Hanyecz two large pizzas from Papa John’s.
At the time, this might have felt like a somewhat silly, inconsequential exchange. Except it wasn’t. Fast forward to today, and as I write this Bitcoin is priced at around $41,000 per coin. That means the 10,000 Bitcoins that Hanyecz spent on his two pizzas would today be worth over $400 million. Had he held onto them instead of buying the pies, Hanyecz would be worth nearly half a billion dollars.
Despite the staggering sum he traded for two pies, Hanyecz told the New York Post that he has no regrets about the transaction. Although he’s not wealthy beyond his wildest dreams, his pizzas have earned him a place in history. It turns out his exchange was the first time Bitcoin was ever used to purchase physical goods, an event that’s now celebrated each year on Bitcoin pizza day. Hanyecz reportedly feels pretty good about being part of that slice (sorry) of crypto history.
Hanyecz’s $400 million pizza can also teach us three important lessons about cryptocurrencies and the crypto world.