Every year on May 22nd, Bitcoin supporters around the world celebrate Bitcoin Pizza Day, a special tradition marking a significant event in the history of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Pizza Day commemorates May 22nd, 2010, when a programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz made what is believed to be the first real-world commercial transaction using bitcoin. Laszlo posted on a Bitcoin forum that he would pay 10,000 bitcoin for a couple of pizzas.

A fellow Bitcoin enthusiast from the UK took him up on the offer and ordered two large pizzas for him in exchange for the 10,000 bitcoin. At the time, 10,000 bitcoin was worth about $41 in trading markets.

Five years later, those bitcoin were worth ~$2.4 million, and five years after that they were worth ~$90 million. Nowadays, that amount of bitcoin is worth substantially more. Every year on May 22, the Bitcoin community celebrates this quirky and significant day, often by eating pizza.

Bitcoin Pizza Day has since evolved into a symbol of how far Bitcoin has come from its early days as a niche interest among cryptographers to a global financial asset. Each year, the day serves as a moment for Bitcoiners to reflect and celebrate the growth in Bitcoin's value and utility, and its potential for the future.

A milestone in Bitcoin

Bitcoin Pizza Day represents a significant event in the history of Bitcoin.

Prior to this day, Bitcoin was primarily a digital asset that was transacted peer-to-peer, but carried no widely agreed-upon real-world value. People could mine bitcoin using their computers, which meant they viewed bitcoin as having more value than any costs they incurred, but there wasn’t any established real-world way to discover a true dollar price of bitcoin.

Bitcoin Pizza Day set off a new era in Bitcoin, and to this day serves as a milestone in different respects:

• Price discovery: By buying pizzas with bitcoin, a commercial price was set in a free market exchange of goods. It created a benchmark value from which all future valuations could follow.
• Alternative network: The transaction demonstrated Bitcoin’s use case to transfer value through a leaderless, electronic network. Laszlo mined bitcoin, then traded his bitcoin for pizza — an international commercial transaction that didn’t require a centralized 3rd-party financial institution (a bank).
• Store of value: Every year people reflect on how much Bitcoin has increased in value over its lifetime by comparing that original price point to today’s prices. This comparison serves to highlight the value of a truly scarce digital asset and the benefits of hodling long-term.

To this day, people continue to use bitcoin for commercial transactions, including buying pizza. Many hold bitcoin as a form of savings to protect against government-induced inflation, but bitcoin has also seen substantial growth as a medium of exchange, particularly in the form of Bitcoin’s Lightning Network.

Whereas Laszlo bought pizza via a request on a forum and sending an on-chain transaction, the Lightning Network lets people seamlessly send and receive borderless payments instantly, directly, and at low-to-no cost. Through its rapidly expanding network of apps and wallets, Lightning makes real bitcoin payments that can move as seamlessly as you need. The Strike app is a fully functional Bitcoin and Lightning wallet, which lets people transact with either cash or bitcoin through the Lightning Network to any other Lightning-enabled wallet globally.

By spending bitcoin in the same way that Laszlo did, Bitcoiners contribute to the growth of a community, support the development of a peer-to-peer economy, and exercise their freedom to choose their preferred money and network through which to transact.

Bitcoin Pizza Day isn’t just about remembering the purchase of two pizzas, but celebrating the incredible journey of Bitcoin from obscurity to a widely recognized and revolutionary digital form of money.

On May 22nd, if you’re looking to buy some pizza, search online for “Pizza shops that accept bitcoin,” and use your Strike app to make your purchase.

Happy Bitcoin Pizza Day!