Altcoins Talks - Cryptocurrency Forum
Crypto Discussion Forum => Cryptocurrency discussions => Topic started by: CryptoInvestor on May 23, 2020, 01:11:43 AM
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Bitcoin Pizza Day: Why Bitcoiners Are Celebrating Today By Eating Pizza
Colin Harper
Colin HarperContributor
Crypto & Blockchain
May 22, 2020
I'm a freelance journalist from Nashville who covers Bitcoin, privacy tech, the debt bubble, and things like that.
Today, Bitcoiners all over the world are eating pizza—in offices, on couches, at their apartments and their houses. They’re not doing this because pizza is delicious. They are doing it because it’s a tradition, one that dates back to May 22, 2010, when one man made history by making the first “real world” purchase with bitcoin.
The Man Behind The Pizza
Ten years ago, a Floridian man named Laszlo Hanyecz, decided that he wanted a free lunch.
The young programmer was an early contributor to Bitcoin’s software when it was barely one year old. An active member of an even more niche community then, Hanyecz actually advanced Bitcoin mining in a significant way. He coded a program that made it possible for miners to mine Bitcoin using their computer’s graphics cards (GPUs), a more powerful method than using a computer processor (CPU), the original means of mining Bitcoin.
This was the first shell to drop in what would become an ever-increasing arms race for hash power on the Bitcoin network (what started with more powerful mining rigs with GPU mining would culminate in the massive, ASIC miner packed warehouse that dominate the mining industry today).
But most people don’t remember Hanyecz for his contribution to Bitcoin mining. They remember him for what his mining activity allowed him to do: purchase pizza with bitcoin.
The Million Dollar Pizza
“I'll pay 10,000 bitcoins for a couple of pizzas ... maybe 2 large ones so I have some left over for the next day,” Hanyecz solicited Bitcointalk, a Bitcoin-focused forum founded by the coin’s creator that was a watering-hole for discussion in the protean days of Bitcoin’s development.
One other Bitcointalk user, jercos, was interested and agreed: Hanyecz would pay him 10,000 bitcoin and he would order two large supreme pizzas for the Floridian.
One user cautioned, perhaps a bit poignantly in hindsight, that 10,000 bitcoin “is quite a lot,” or around $41 on one of Bitcoin’s first (and now defunct) trading hubs.
As Hanyecz told me a year ago over the phone, the price on some trading forum made little difference to him. After all, this was the dude who invented GPU mining; he was eating a meal he paid for with internet currency he generated by idling his home desktop.
In his mind, this wasn’t paying for anything; this was a free lunch.
“I wanted to do the pizza thing because to me it was free pizza,” Hanyecz explained. “I mean, I coded this thing and mined bitcoin and I felt like I was winning the internet that day. I got pizza for contributing to an open-source project. Usually hobbies are a time sink and money sink, and in this case, my hobby bought me dinner.”
“I was like, ‘Man, I got these GPUs linked together, now I’m going to mine twice as fast. I’m just going to be eating free food; I’ll never have to buy food again.’”
While the first transaction was completed on May 22, Hanyecz would go on to do it 9 or so more times and spend a total of 100,000 bitcoin on pizza that summer. He has to stop in August, though, because the network was getting more popular so he couldn’t “generate thousands of coins a day anymore,” according to a post in the original pizza thread.
The Legend
It wouldn’t take long before Laszlo’s decision would become a point of great intrigue within the Bitcoin community. Not six months later, one precocious Bitcointalk user on the same thread would ask, “Will this eventually become the world's first million-dollar pizza?”
The answer, of course, is yes—multiple times over. The 100,000 bitcoin Hanyecz spent on pizza in 2010 is worth $900,000,000 at the time of publication and was worth $2,000,000,000 at Bitcoin’s all time high.
This story, of course, has become a bedrock of the Bitcoin community’s lore. If you visit Hanyecz’s Bitcointalk post, for instance, you’ll see that it has been spun into a 70+ page lexicon of exclamations and reactions to the legendary pizza transaction’s rising price over the years.
Some of you may have known of this story already from this 60 Minutes episode, or from any of the many articles that mainstream and crypto media alike churn out at this time of year. Indeed, Bitcoin Pizza day has become a scandalous gaff to even those outside of Bitcoin.
The usual refrain goes something like, “Could you imagine being that dude who bought the pizza for 10,000 bitcoin? I bet he wants to kill himself lol.”
On the contrary, by the looks of last year’s 60 Minutes interview, he’s doing just fine. And besides, this facile perspective fails to acknowledge the basic fact that anyone at this point in time could have bought or mined bitcoin—so really, by this logic, everyone who didn’t acquire and hold bitcoin from 2010 on missed out on life-changing wealth.
But the mainstream “missed-out-on-millions” take also ignores the crucial other side of the story that we addressed here: that Hanyecz invented a more efficient way to mine bitcoin, so his surplus made the transaction a no brainer.
The slice was no more expensive then than anything else he could have purchased at that time; he just happened to do it in bitcoin. The gesture itself is worth a million dollars considering how fringe Bitcoin was, and yet, all we focus on is how much those bitcoin would be worth today.
Would we be doing the same if he used dollars? Probably not, but maybe we should. The cash used to purchase the pizzas has lost roughly 20% of its value over the decade, meaning it would cost about $6 more to buy the same amount of pizza today.
With the dollar’s decaying in mind, actually, maybe focusing on how much that 10,000 bitcoin would be worth today (when compared to the dollar) isn’t such a bad thing after all.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/colinharper/2020/05/22/bitcoin-pizza-day-why-bitcoiners-are-celebrating-today-by-eating-pizza/#3e5ceeb5356a
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Times goes fast, 10 years of the pizza bought with Bitcoin, almost 11 years of Bitcoin history, damn, how much will worth BTC in the next 10 years ??
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There was a time when 1 pizza could be obtained with 3 bitcoins. But now with the price of bitcoin, many pizzas can be found, in a word, pizza factory can be opened. In the days ahead, the skyrocketing price of bitcoin is being imagined. All of me are looking forward to that day.
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I draw your attention to the fact that you have done the same post in two places. I hope the moderator will check this.
Same post link:
https://www.altcoinstalks.com/index.php?topic=152385.0
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I can sell one pizza for even 0.1 BTC today, those guys are lucky in the past and didn't know it
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It can be said that this date is a very memorable day when buying pizza with 10,000. We can imagine how rich the man right now if he still keeps the BTC. Although the BTC at that time is not worthy, but now, it is so worthy and precious. Probably he has known the future and chance of BTC to grow up.
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This man Laszlo Hanyecz is the Inventor of GPU mining so he must be credited with his works more than the traditional Bitcoin Pizza Day transaction "The Famous 10000 BTC worth 2 large Pizza" that celebrated yearly by Bitcoin Enthusiast I can never imagine what could I do if I was that one paying 10K Bitcoin worth hundreds of Millions of Dollars for just two large Pizza By the way that was the history.
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Personally, I only celebrate it by reminding and sharing on the story. But not celebrating the Bitcoin Pizza day by eating pizza. For, it is still pandemic and I cannot buy it because it is far away from my house. Additionally, the history about this day is unique and it may involve regret.
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This celebration will ever continue to teach us not to belittle a new beginning, just a decade after, it worth hundreds of millions of dollars. As we are in the mood of celebration, let us protect our asset from total collapse, KoinPro has not disappointed for once
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Imagine if you hold with that amount, you will be rich now. This is one of the great history of bitcoin.
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Yeah, celebrating the day by eating pizza. Well, this is because it reminds them to the most expensive pizza to convert in BTC rate right now. t seems like feeling wow to see the exchange of that much Bitcoin with a free lunch, pizza. But at that time, he was so happy accepting free pizza with that not worthy BTC.
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Times goes fast, 10 years of the pizza bought with Bitcoin, almost 11 years of Bitcoin history, damn, how much will worth BTC in the next 10 years ??
The price of bitcoin cannot continue to grow at the same pace as many people dream. The existing material values of our world cannot be depreciated due to the appearance of bitcoin. Therefore, I do not think that over the next decade the price of bitcoin will again increase many times. The price will still rise, but not at that rate. I think that if it reaches fifty thousand, it will be good.
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This event with the purchase of pizza for ten thousand bitcoins clearly shows how much the price of bitcoin has increased since that time. This day is a kind of demonstration of the power of bitcoin. It is worth celebrating.
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I have missed the historical thing in cryptocurrency because I was not in the right position when the anniversary of Pizza Day for Bitcoin.
I have busy in the real world with my family and with my wife's family.
For all crytpocurrency lovers, congratulations to all of you who have fun for Pizza Day Bitcoin, Cheerrsss bruh!
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I draw your attention to the fact that you have done the same post in two places. I hope the moderator will check this.
Same post link:
https://www.altcoinstalks.com/index.php?topic=152385.0
I think the moderator will take an action if there are against the altcoinstalks rules.
To op, the present scenario will become past soon. The bearish condition of market will come to written history every details. Now as we all know bitcoin price is expensive that can buy not just pizza.
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Yes, I was thinking about what that man is thinking right now if he is alive. He made history and became a part of history. Crypto is a very unpredictable place and who knew the Price of bitcoin will be in this far. Its ridiculous f you think of other market places. It takes a long time what bitcoin achieve in these few years.
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Yes we all should have eaten a pizza and celebrated bitcoin pizza day but definitely pay with fiat or cash because bitcoins are too valuable to be given away on pizza.
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Probably I am different with them. I only saw ut as a history and not eating pizza at that day
Am I left behind to do this? Personally I am not interestes too much in this kind of news
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Bitcoiners know that Bitcoin Pizza Day is the day that Bitcoin has value and accepted as a payment tool for the first time. It is a very memorable and historical day in Bitcoin. So, I am not surprised if many Bitcoin lovers to celebrate it by eating Pizza.
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Pizza is something that we can remember thay bitcoin was officially avcepted by the pizza guy. If such guy have sold his bitcoins, im sure that he will be a millaire.
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First of all, this is clear evidence of the price growth of bitcoin and its worldwide recognition as a means of payment. Almost the first transaction of ten thousand bitcoins for two ordinary pizzas and the current price of bitcoin, this is impressive.