Laszlo Hanyecz: The 10,000 BTC Pizza Transaction

The Programmer

Laszlo Hanyecz was one of Bitcoin’s earliest developers. A Florida-based programmer originally from Hungary, Hanyecz made significant technical contributions to the Bitcoin project in its first year, including developing the first GPU mining code — a breakthrough that dramatically increased mining efficiency and foreshadowed the industrial mining operations that would follow years later.

In early 2010, Hanyecz was mining Bitcoin on his personal computer. The network was tiny, the difficulty was low, and blocks were easy to find. Like many early participants, he accumulated thousands of Bitcoin with minimal effort. The coins had no established market price. There was no exchange, no trading pair, and no way to convert them to traditional currency.

Bitcoin existed, but it had never been used to buy anything.

The Forum Post

On 18 May 2010, Hanyecz posted a message on the BitcoinTalk forum under the title “Pizza for bitcoins?” He offered 10,000 BTC to anyone who would order him two large pizzas.

The post is notable for its casual tone. Hanyecz specified that he liked onions, peppers, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes, and pepperoni, and that he did not want “weird fish topping” or plain cheese. He suggested that someone could order the pizzas online or from a local shop and have them delivered.

The offer sat for four days. At the time, 10,000 BTC had no meaningful market value. The community was small and Bitcoin was more of an intellectual curiosity than a currency. Several forum users commented that the offer was interesting but nobody took action.

The Transaction

On 22 May 2010, a British user named Jeremy Sturdivant (known by the handle “jercos”) accepted the offer. Sturdivant ordered two large Papa John’s pizzas for delivery to Hanyecz’s address in Jacksonville, Florida. The order cost approximately $25 — paid by Sturdivant in conventional currency. In return, Hanyecz transferred 10,000 BTC to Sturdivant’s wallet.

Hanyecz posted a photo of the two pizzas on the forum, confirming the transaction. It was the first documented purchase of a physical good using Bitcoin. The date — 22 May — is now celebrated annually as Bitcoin Pizza Day.

The Aftermath

Hanyecz continued to make similar transactions over the following weeks, spending tens of thousands of additional Bitcoin on pizzas and other small purchases. He has said in interviews that he spent approximately 100,000 BTC in total during this period, all on trivial purchases.

At the time, this was entirely rational. Bitcoin had no established value, and the act of using it to buy real goods was itself an experiment — a proof of concept demonstrating that the currency could function as a medium of exchange. Without transactions like Hanyecz’s, Bitcoin might never have developed the credibility it needed to attract wider adoption.

But the numbers, viewed in retrospect, are staggering. At peak Bitcoin prices, the 10,000 BTC spent on two pizzas would have been worth over $600 million. Even at more modest valuations, the transaction represents hundreds of millions of dollars exchanged for approximately $25 worth of fast food.

No Regrets

Hanyecz has been remarkably sanguine about the transaction. In interviews, he has consistently said that he does not regret the purchase. He has pointed out that someone had to make the first real-world Bitcoin transaction, and that the pizza purchase helped establish Bitcoin as a currency rather than merely a technical novelty.

He has also noted that if he had simply held the Bitcoin, the currency might never have developed the transaction history and real-world use cases that drove its adoption. In a sense, spending Bitcoin helped create the very value that makes the spending seem foolish in hindsight.

Sturdivant, the user who accepted the 10,000 BTC, reportedly spent the coins relatively quickly as well. Neither party held their position through Bitcoin’s later price surges.

Bitcoin Pizza Day

The annual celebration of Bitcoin Pizza Day has become one of the cryptocurrency community’s most enduring traditions. Every 22 May, Bitcoin enthusiasts around the world order pizza and post about the anniversary on social media. Cryptocurrency exchanges and companies run promotions tied to the date.

The event serves as both a celebration and a cautionary tale. It commemorates the moment Bitcoin first functioned as money in the real world, while simultaneously illustrating the impossible difficulty of valuing an asset in its infancy.

Lessons

Hanyecz’s story is different from every other entry in the graveyard. He did not lose his Bitcoin. He did not forget a password or throw away a hard drive. He spent it — deliberately, cheerfully, on something he wanted. The fact that it turned out to be the most expensive meal in history is a function of timing, not negligence.

The pizza transaction is a reminder that Bitcoin’s value was not preordained. In 2010, the idea that a single Bitcoin would one day be worth tens of thousands of dollars was not merely unlikely — it was inconceivable to almost everyone, including the people building the network.

For inheritance planners, the story carries a subtler lesson: the value of cryptocurrency holdings can change by orders of magnitude over short periods. An estate plan that seems adequate today may prove catastrophically insufficient — or unexpectedly generous — by the time it is executed.

“I wanted pizza. I had Bitcoin. It seemed like a fair trade at the time.”

Bitcoin Inheritance Planning (UK) — Cryptocurrency holdings can change in value by orders of magnitude. Plan accordingly.
Lost Bitcoin Statistics — The data behind how much early Bitcoin was lost or spent before anyone understood its value.
Satoshi Nakamoto: 1.1M BTC That Never Moved — Mined in the same era as Hanyecz, but never spent.
Forgotten Wallets: Millions Lost — The millions of coins from early miners who didn’t hold on.
Mt. Gox: 850,000 BTC Vanished — The exchange that dominated Bitcoin’s early trading years.

10,000 Bitcoin for Two Pizzas