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One thing I've always appreciated most about Bitcoin is the strong, tight-knit community it fosters. Bitcoiners, in many ways, resemble one big family, and what better way to unite family and friends than through celebratory holidays?
Just as many of us celebrate Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving, Bitcoiners have their own set of special occasions, including Bitcoin Whitepaper Day, Bitcoin Genesis Block Day, and Bitcoin Halving Day, among others.
Today, I'll delve into one of Bitcoin's most significant events, why we commemorate it, and its profound significance to the mission that I and many others in the community deeply cherish: Bitcoin Pizza Day!
On May 18, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz logged onto the Bitcointalk forum and posted a message:
I'll pay 10,000 bitcoins for a couple of pizzas...like maybe 2 large ones so I have some left over for the next day. I like having leftover pizza to nibble on later. You can make the pizza yourself and bring it to my house or order it for me from a delivery place, but what I'm aiming for is getting food delivered in exchange for bitcoins where I don't have to order or prepare it myself, kind of like ordering a 'breakfast platter' at a hotel or something, they just bring you something to eat and you're happy! I like things like onions, peppers, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes, pepperoni, etc...just standard stuff, no weird fish topping or anything like that. I also like regular cheese pizzas which may be cheaper to prepare or otherwise acquire. If you're interested, please let me know and we can work out a deal.
Thanks,
Laszlo
His offer sat there for a bit with no takers. But Laszlo didn't give up. He kept posting, basically saying, "Hey, I really want these pizzas. Who's up for it?"
Finally, another forum user named Jeremy Sturdivant, who goes by the username “jercos”, saw Laszlo’s post and decided to go for it. Jeremy ordered two large pizzas from Papa John's, paid for them with his own credit card, and had them delivered to Laszlo’s place. In return, Laszlo sent Jeremy 10,000 Bitcoins at the time worth $41.
The deal went down on May 22, 2010, and Laszlo even posted pictures of his pizzas on the forum to show that everything worked out. This seemingly simple act of buying pizzas with Bitcoin was a huge deal because it was the first time Bitcoin was used to buy a tangible product. It showed the world that Bitcoin could actually be used as money.
Those same 10,000 Bitcoins at the time of writing this are worth USD 695,513,000.00!
When interviewed by Coin Telegraph in 2018, Laszlo had this to say on whether or not he regretted his choice.
I don't regret it. I think that it's great that I got to be part of the early history of Bitcoin in that way, and people know about the pizza, and it's an interesting story because everybody can kind of relate to that and be like, 'Oh my God, you spent all of that money!'
He added: "I didn't think it would get as popular as it has, but it's gotten to be a really catchy story for people."
This serves as a lesson to Bitcoiners and non-Bitcoiners alike on what happens if you don't save in hard money
- Price of 10,000 Bitcoins in 2010: $41 USD
- Current price of 10,000 Bitcoins: May 21st, 2024 $695,513,000 USD
- Percentage increase in Bitcoin value: ≈ 1,698,321,951%
Devaluation of the US Dollar from 2010 to 2024: Approximately 45%.
The numbers speak for themselves! It's really quite simple: life gets cheaper when you save in Bitcoin. The US dollar, along with all other fiat currencies, is programmed from the start to debase to zero, while Bitcoin, on the other hand, is programmed to decrease the issued supply gradually until it reaches the maximum supply cap of 21 million.
Bitcoin Pizza Day is perhaps the greatest example of just how much the value of the dollar has depreciated in comparison to Bitcoin, and therefore, why you should remember the most important rule of Bitcoin: "hodl, hodl, hodl!" Or in other words, never sell your Bitcoin. However, I would like to point out the difference between selling your Bitcoin and spending it.
Selling your Bitcoin for fiat might seem like a good idea to make some extra cash at the time, but just remember how much it could be worth relatively in 5, 10, or 20 years and beyond, as the supply of fiat expands and the available supply of Bitcoin decreases. Think instant vs delayed gratification or high vs low time preference, as we would say in the Bitcoin world.
On the other hand, spending small portions of it is a great way to stimulate the economy built upon Bitcoin, support small businesses owned by other Bitcoiners, and prove to the world it truly has a real-world use case. There are also many great charitable causes where Bitcoin proves most useful, such as the 2021 Canadian trucker protest where, due to government sanctions on bank accounts, only Bitcoin was able to reach the truckers. It is also widely used to provide direct humanitarian aid to those in countries whose currencies see much higher rates of inflation than the US dollar.
Just as Thanksgiving celebrates the importance of being thankful, Bitcoin Pizza Day not only celebrates the milestone of Bitcoin first being used as a medium of exchange but also the importance of saving your monetary energy - the hardest form of money to ever exist: Bitcoin! Not only do you get to protect your hard-earned savings from debasement, but you also can help build something revolutionary and assist those around the world who wouldn't have otherwise been able to receive it using traditional fiat systems.
I also urge anyone reading this, whether you're a Bitcoin veteran or a newcomer, to find a Bitcoin Pizza Day party near you so that you can see for yourself how truly great of a community we have in Bitcoin, challenge your beliefs and learn something new!
And lastly, always remember to HODL!
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