Every year on May 22, the crypto community celebrates "Pizza Day." But how are cryptocurrency and pizza—two completely different things—related? This article explains Pizza Day, an importantEvery year on May 22, the crypto community celebrates "Pizza Day." But how are cryptocurrency and pizza—two completely different things—related? This article explains Pizza Day, an important
Learn/Market Insights/Hot Topic Analysis/A Beginner'...n and Pizza

A Beginner's Guide to Pizza Day: The Surprising Relationship between Bitcoin and Pizza

Jul 16, 2025MEXC
0m
Solana
SOL$73.74-0.74%
Lorenzo Protocol
BANK$0.06096-24.32%
XRP
XRP$1.0734-0.74%

Every year on May 22, the crypto community celebrates "Pizza Day." But how are cryptocurrency and pizza—two completely different things—related? This article explains Pizza Day, an important anniversary in the history of cryptocurrency.

The first real-world cryptocurrency transaction


The crypto community commemorates Pizza Day because it was the first time material goods were traded for digital currency. Bitcoin was conceived in 2008, and the bitcoin blockchain came to fruition in 2009. The first time Bitcoin was used to acquire real-world goods—two large Papa John's pizzas—occurred on May 22, 2010.

The person who actually bought the pizzas with Bitcoin was Laszlo Hanyecz, a programmer living in the United States. Hanyecz posted to an internet Bitcoin forum asking if anyone was willing to exchange 10,000 Bitcoin for two pizzas. In the pioneering days of Bitcoin, online forums were important sites for exchanging crypto information. Hanyecz thought that if he made the request there, someone might answer it.

It was Jeremy Sturdivant who answered that request. Sturdivant was a student living in London at the time and ordered pizzas for Hanyecz from a store he found online. Of course, the order was placed with a credit card, but Hanyecz paid Sturdivant in Bitcoin, which is why this day is considered the "first day a real-world item was bought with Bitcoin" (this was before the world's first Bitcoin exchange appeared).

How much does a pizza cost?


At the time Hanyecz bought his pizzas, the price of Bitcoin was approximately $0.0041. Thus, 10,000 BTC was worth approximately $41, a reasonable price for two pizzas.

On May 17, 2023, when this article was written, 1 Bitcoin was worth about $27,000. Meaning 10,000 Bitcoin would be worth about $270 million today. That's an astonishing sum of money in exchange for an extraordinary quantity of pizzas!

The TradingView chart below shows that the price of Bitcoin has been rising quite rapidly, especially since 2020.


Will there ever be a time to buy items with Bitcoin?


Crypto assets are still commonly held for investment purposes, but Bitcoin has not yet achieved widespread acceptance as a payment option for everyday goods and services. Nevertheless, Bitcoin payments are gradually being accepted at an increasing number of stores, including the electronics retailer Bic Camera, which accepts Bitcoin payments.

There are several factors that could prevent the proliferation of crypto payments, one of which being the uncertain legal status of cryptocurrency. However, there are already countries that are trying to overcome this by designating Bitcoin as legal currency. El Salvador and the Central African Republic are two countries that have successfully recognized Bitcoin as legal tender. While the introduction of Bitcoin has not been entirely successful in either country, it paves the way for similar moves to be made in more economically stable regions. Once this happens, we will be one step closer to an era in which buying things with crypto will become commonplace.


Market Opportunity
Solana Logo
Solana Price(SOL)
$73.74
$73.74$73.74
-1.21%
USD
Solana (SOL) Live Price Chart

Popular Articles

View More
Can You Really Get Free Solana? What Works and What Drains Your Wallet

Can You Really Get Free Solana? What Works and What Drains Your Wallet

Here is the honest answer most "free Solana" guides bury: there is no reliable way to earn a meaningful amount of free mainnet SOL if you are starting from nothing. Real methods do exist — airdrops,

Solana Price History: What the SOL Chart Shows and What It Leaves Out

Solana Price History: What the SOL Chart Shows and What It Leaves Out

Solana has two all-time highs, and they have almost nothing in common. The first, near $260 in November 2021, was driven by NFT and DeFi activity. The second, around $294 in January 2025, was driven

Will Solana Break $100 in July? Solana (SOL) Price Prediction July 2026 and Analyst Targets

Will Solana Break $100 in July? Solana (SOL) Price Prediction July 2026 and Analyst Targets

Solana traders who checked their portfolios on July 1 saw a token that looked nothing like the one from three weeks earlier. SOL was changing hands around $85, according to CoinMarketCap, a sharp

How High Can Solana (SOL) Go After the Iran Ceasefire Relief Rally?

How High Can Solana (SOL) Go After the Iran Ceasefire Relief Rally?

Solana's price jumped within a day of a ceasefire announcement between the United States and Iran, and that one sentence says a lot about how crypto trades right now. Geopolitics, not just blockchain

Hot Crypto Updates

View More
Solana 24h DEX Volume Hits $4.15 Billion and Leads Onchain Trading

Solana 24h DEX Volume Hits $4.15 Billion and Leads Onchain Trading

Overview Solana’s 24-hour decentralized exchange volume reached approximately $4.15 billion in a cross-chain market snapshot, placing it ahead of other major blockchain networks. According to a

The CLARITY Act Is Closer Than Ever — What It Means for XRP, SOL, and the Next Bull Cycle

The CLARITY Act Is Closer Than Ever — What It Means for XRP, SOL, and the Next Bull Cycle

The CLARITY Act entered the Senate calendar on June 1, 2026, after a bipartisan 15-9 committee vote. With Lummis pushing for a July 4 floor vote, here's what XRP, SOL, and global crypto traders need

Bitcoin ETFs Lost $1.26B — So Where Did the Money Go?

Bitcoin ETFs Lost $1.26B — So Where Did the Money Go?

Bitcoin ETFs bled $1.26B in a single week while HYPE hit a new all-time high and XRP logged its strongest ETF inflow week of 2026. Here's what the rotation data actually tells us about where

Coinbase Just Turned Stablecoin Issuance Into a Product — USDF Is the Proof

Coinbase Just Turned Stablecoin Issuance Into a Product — USDF Is the Proof

Coinbase and Flipcash have launched USDF, a custom USDC-backed stablecoin on Solana, marking the first live deployment on Coinbase's stablecoin-as-a-service platform. Here's what it means for crypto

Trending News

View More
$11B Bitcoin Whale Opens $748M in Leveraged Long Positions Across BTC, ETH, and SOL After ETH Liquidation

$11B Bitcoin Whale Opens $748M in Leveraged Long Positions Across BTC, ETH, and SOL After ETH Liquidation

A cryptocurrency whale with an estimated net worth of $11 billion has opened three leveraged long positions totaling $748 million across Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL), according to o

Morgan Stanley Files S‑1 to Launch Spot Bitcoin ETF and Separate Solana Trust

Morgan Stanley Files S‑1 to Launch Spot Bitcoin ETF and Separate Solana Trust

Morgan Stanley has filed an S‑1 with the SEC to launch a spot Bitcoin ($BTC) ETF, alongside a separate Solana ($SOL) trust, signaling another major Wall Street institution expanding its footprint in d

Morgan Stanley Launches Spot Ethereum and Solana ETPs: What It Means for ETH and SOL Investors

Morgan Stanley Launches Spot Ethereum and Solana ETPs: What It Means for ETH and SOL Investors

Morgan Stanley has expanded its crypto ETP lineup with spot Ethereum and Solana products, giving investors a new way to access ETH and SOL through traditional market infrastructure.

Morgan Stanley Solana Trust MSOL Lists on NYSE Arca as Spot SOL ETF Market Expands

Morgan Stanley Solana Trust MSOL Lists on NYSE Arca as Spot SOL ETF Market Expands

Morgan Stanley Solana Trust, ticker MSOL, has listed on NYSE Arca, bringing the number of spot SOL ETFs to 9 and deepening institutional access to Solana.

Related Articles

View More
MEXC Alpha Trader Research Weekly | Bulls vs. Bears Clash Ahead of FOMC: Is BTC's $63K Critical Support a Golden Buying Opportunity or a Bottomless Pit?

MEXC Alpha Trader Research Weekly | Bulls vs. Bears Clash Ahead of FOMC: Is BTC's $63K Critical Support a Golden Buying Opportunity or a Bottomless Pit?

Week 4, July 2026Reporting Period: Jul 22, 2026 – Jul 28, 2026Data cutoff: Jul 28, 2026Core NarrativeLast week, the crypto market experienced a dramatic shift from optimism to caution. Early in the we

Unlocking the Long Tail: MEXC's Full-Spectrum Trading Universe

Unlocking the Long Tail: MEXC's Full-Spectrum Trading Universe

In the cryptocurrency market, trading in major players like BTC and ETH have become fiercely competitive, while the real opportunities for outsized returns often lie in underexplored long-tail assets.

MEXC Alpha Trader Research Weekly | ETFs See Net Inflows for Two Consecutive Weeks as BTC Reclaims $65K: Bottoming Signal or False Breakout?

MEXC Alpha Trader Research Weekly | ETFs See Net Inflows for Two Consecutive Weeks as BTC Reclaims $65K: Bottoming Signal or False Breakout?

Week 3, July 2026Reporting Period: July 15 – July 21, 2026Data Cutoff: July 21, 2026Market OverviewThe crypto market demonstrated resilience this week amidst complex multi-directional pressures. Bitco

U.S. Stocks Weekly Report | Jul 11–Jul 17: CPI Plunges 3.5%, Top Three Banks Post Strongest Q2 Ever: Inflation Turning Point Combined with AI Profit Surge Opens Valuation Reset Window for Growth Stocks

U.S. Stocks Weekly Report | Jul 11–Jul 17: CPI Plunges 3.5%, Top Three Banks Post Strongest Q2 Ever: Inflation Turning Point Combined with AI Profit Surge Opens Valuation Reset Window for Growth Stocks

On July 17, 2026, a rare macroeconomic combination unfolded intensively within the same week: The US June Consumer price index(CPI) annual rate stood at 3.5%, significantly lower than the expected 3.8

Sign Up on MEXC
Sign Up & Receive Up to 10,000 USDT Bonus
Is Your Stablecoin Truly Safe?
Is Your Stablecoin Truly Safe?Is Your Stablecoin Truly Safe?
Know the risks of USDT, USDC, OpenUSD & USD1