Laszlo Hanyecz purchased two pizzas from Papa Johns on May 22, 2010. While that sounds uneventful, he paid for the pizzas using 10,000 Bitcoin. Technically, Hanyecz used a middleman to complete the transaction, but Bitcoin still led to a pizza delivery. May 22 has been known as Bitcoin Pizza Day ever since that transaction. It marked the first time Bitcoin was utilized to complete a transaction and is remembered to this day.
At the time, both pizzas cost $20.50 each in fiat currency, or 5,000 BTC each. A single Bitcoin wasn't even worth a penny at the time. Buying a Papa John's pizza at that price today would cost about 0.0025 BTC. Cryptocurrencies in general have seen massive gains since 2010, and hundreds of these currencies are available today. Since the first Bitcoin Pizza Day, Bitcoin has evolved into a behemoth with seemingly no limits.
A limited number of restaurants across the world accept Bitcoin as a form of payment. Such a feat would have seemed impossible 8 years ago. Unlike the first purchase by Hanyecz, no middleman is required to transact in Bitcoin today. More and more businesses continue to accept Bitcoin directly. Thousands of collective retailers allow customers to pay using cryptocurrencies, whether it's Bitcoin or some other cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrency believers continue to celebrate Bitcoin Pizza Day. The iconic "holiday" paved the way for wider adoption and success of the cryptocurrency. These days, Bitcoin features a market cap of billions and billions of dollars. A single Bitcoin was worth nearly $20,000 at the beginning of 2018. While that figure has dropped by more than 50% since then, Bitcoin is still worth thousands of dollars apiece.
Within the coming years, Bitcoin is poised to gain wider adoption. Entire countries continue to mull using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to complete transactions. The valuation of Bitcoin continues to fluctuate, but the decentralized cryptocurrency remains as popular as ever. Early adopters never would have imagined using Bitcoin to buy a pizza. Nonetheless, owners can now use Bitcoin to do more than buy a pizza or two.
In the future, Bitcoin might become as commonplace as cash or debit and credit.
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