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Pizza Day’s first trade
Every May 22, the crypto industry marks Bitcoin Pizza Day, when Laszlo Hanyecz offered 10,000 bitcoins for two Papa John’s pizzas and Jeremy Sturdivant accepted the offer on May 22, 2010.
“10,000 bitcoins if someone would buy him two pizzas”
Modern Consensus says the Florida programmer’s deal was for “10,000 bitcoins if someone would buy him two pizzas,” and it notes the pizzas were delivered for $41 dollars worth of bitcoin.
Modern Consensus also quotes the Bitcoin Whitepaper describing bitcoin as “a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash [that] would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution,” framing the pizza trade as the first time bitcoin was used commercially for that purpose.
Bitcoin Magazine places the same moment at “Sixteen years ago today,” and says Hanyecz paid 10,000 Bitcoin for two large Papa John’s pizzas that were worth roughly $41 at the time.
Bitcoin Magazine adds that on Pizza Day 2026 the two-pizza stack is worth “$777.87 million,” while it says the anniversary is observed each May 22 as “the first commercial transaction using Bitcoin.”
What the pizzas cost
Multiple outlets tie the anniversary to a revaluation of the same fixed 10,000 BTC stack at the day’s spot price, with Yellow saying Pizza Day 2026 values it at $777.87 million after it was $1.106 billion on Pizza Day 2025.
Yellow also says the year-over-year change is “a $328 million haircut in a single year,” and it states Bitcoin is trading near $77,300 on May 22, 2026.
Bitcoin Magazine similarly reports that the two pizzas are worth “$777.87 million — down $328 million from last year’s anniversary price,” and it says the price is “down 29.7% from last year.”
In contrast, Pluang frames the day as “10,000 BTC spent on two pizzas, now worth $770M,” and it says Bitcoin is trading around $77,000.
Pluang also reports that “Bitcoin dropping 2.3% to $75,782” and “Ethereum falling 3.17% to $2,068.26,” situating Pizza Day within broader price declines across major cryptocurrencies.
From meme to market
Modern Consensus says Bitcoin Pizza Day “kicked off a revolution,” and it points to bitcoin debit cards issued by Mastercard and Visa as a way users pay at merchants using bitcoin while merchants receive payment in fiat.
“a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash”
Modern Consensus also says a “Lightning Network” layer 2 built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain is used by apps such as Strike and Cash App, and it identifies Cash App as “a mobile payment and financial services platform owned by Twitter Founder Jack Dorsey’s Block, Inc.”
The same Modern Consensus piece says bitcoin is used in the remittance market alongside stablecoins, and it states that remittance services can charge “$12 to $14 for a $200 payment.”
Bitcoin Magazine adds that the anniversary is the moment “a digital currency stopped being a theoretical experiment and became a medium of exchange for real goods,” and it notes Hanyecz posted his offer on the BitcoinTalk forum on May 18, 2010.
Bitcoin Magazine includes Hanyecz’s own reply to skepticism, quoting him: “I just think it would be interesting if I could say that I paid for a pizza in Bitcoins.”
