The first purchase with bitcoin for goods or services was for two pizzas: the story behind the transaction on May 22, 2010.
Fifteen years ago, on May 22, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz, an American programmer and the first Bitcoin miner to use graphics cards, made the first Bitcoin transaction to purchase two pizzas. It was the first time Bitcoin was used to purchase goods or services.
On May 18, 2010, Hanyecz posted on the Bitcointalk.org forum his desire to buy two pizzas, paying in Bitcoin. He offered 10,000 BTC to anyone who could order, pick up, and deliver the two pizzas. A user pointed out to him that he could get $41 for those bitcoins by selling them on an exchange, which at the time valued 1 bitcoin at less than half a cent. The exchange price of 1 bitcoin was around $0.0041.
On May 21st, Hanyecz had still not been able to find anyone to complete his bitcoin transaction with. But the next day, a user accepted his offer.
“I just want to report that I successfully traded 10,000 bitcoins for two pizzas,” he wrote on the Bitcointalk.org forum on May 22, 2010.
In the following image are the details of the historic transaction:
The pizzas were from Papa John’s, but Hanyecz had purchased them from a 19-year-old named Jeremy Sturdivant (username “jercos”), who had ordered them for him and received the 10,000 bitcoins in exchange.
According to statements to some media outlets, Sturdivant spent all 10,000 bitcoins shortly after to take a few trips with his girlfriend.
In several interviews, Hanyecz has stated that he does not regret his decision, since Bitcoin had no value at that time. He instead stated that he is “happy to have been a part of Bitcoin’s history in its early days.”
Many do not know that Hanyecz kept his offer open and in total purchased eight pizzas for 40,000 BTC.
Every year on May 22nd, the Bitcoin community gathers to celebrate Bitcoin Pizza Day. Many choose to spend an evening in company eating a good pizza, celebrating the transaction made by Laszlo Hanyecz.
