Bitcoin Pizza Day: Know all about it and one of the first crypto payments

If you think crypto payments is talk of today, you are mistaken! Around 12 years ago, when the world was not aware of cryptocurrency, let alone of how to accept cryptocurrency payments, the first-ever transaction in crypto payments happened. Bitcoin and pizza might not go together. However, pizza plays a crucial role in the history of cryptocurrency as much as it does in our lives! This year marked the 12th anniversary of what is popularly known as Bitcoin Pizza Day. Let us dig deeper and know all about this day!

The Beginnings

In 2010, Cryptocurrency and crypto payments were only some fancy names that only a few people knew. Out of those people, even fewer cared to mine them. This is not a surprise as the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, was created in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto. Cryptocurrency gained popularity only by the end of 2010 when a number of other cryptocurrencies like Litecoin came into the picture. One fine day in 2010, a programmer in Florida placed an order of two pizzas from Papa John’s. Now, this sounds absolutely normal. What made history was the fact that this programmer Laszlo Hanyecz set out to buy them in exchange for Bitcoins! 10,000 Bitcoins! This was the very first time in the history of cryptocurrency when crypto payment was used in a physical transaction of goods for the very first time, pizza in this case, and hence the name - Bitcoin Pizza Day. This is not the entire story, as it also involves a 19-year-old boy named Jeremy Sturdivant.

What happened exactly?

On 18th May 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz announced his desire to buy two large pizzas using Bitcoins on an online forum. He got to know that he could get 41 USD for his bitcoins on some cryptocurrency exchange website through that platform. Then, that website exchange rate was only one-half of a cent per Bitcoin. In other words, Bitcoin was priced at 0.004$ in May 2010. Even after three days, the early Bitcoin miner could not complete his transaction and get his pizzas. Unlike traditional pizza delivery, when one gets their pizzas within a stipulated period of time, Laszlo Hanyecz had to wait for four entire days. It was only on the 22nd of May when someone traded. That was no one but Jeremy Sturdivant from whom Laszlo bought those two Papa John's pizzas. He finally completed the delivery at 2:16 PM EST on 22nd May, 2010. This day also serves as a counterfactual thought implying, "What if Laszlo had sold his bitcoins at the highest rate?" The answer is USD 680 mn! Undoubtedly, he would have been able to buy around half a billion Papa John's pizzas. In fact, he could have bought the entire food chain. Nevertheless, this day marked an important landmark in the history of Bitcoin and crypto payments.

Significance of the Bitcoin Pizza Day

This day started a number of small exchanges in Bitcoins on a one-on-one basis. That day wasn't the only one witnessing Bitcoin - Pizza exchange. As a matter of fact, Laszlo Hanyecz posted that whoever is interested in trading 10,000 BTC for two pizzas at any point, as long as he possesses the required funds, he would make that an immediate deal. Laszlo Hanyecz wasn’t just an average programmer or miner who wanted pizzas. He was more than that. Beyond his crypto transaction, Laszlo pioneered the development of Bitcoin coding in the Mac Operating System.

There are various reasons 22nd May is celebrated by the global crypto community. The year 2008 witnessed a worldwide economic crisis taking its poll over every citizen of the planet, after which people became cynical about the prevailing economic practices, policies, and models. Bitcoin gave people hope for a revolution and a new source of the store of value. 22nd May 2010 also surprised many people as Bitcoin entered the financial world as a source of exchange without any central power issuing or controlling it. This was new as all that was needed was mining it and quickly learning how to pay with Bitcoin and how to accept Bitcoin payments.

Major contributions

Moreover, Laszlo Hanyecz brought about a transformation in the crypto mining landscape, i.e., the Bitcoin mining interface. Before the application-specific integrated chips, the CPU was used to mine Bitcoin. Laszlo, however, enabled mining through the graphic cards or the GPUs of the users. Laszlo Hanyecz, indeed, molded Bitcoin into what it is currently.

What happened to that 10,000 BTC?

If you are wondering what happened to the crypto payment received by Jeremy Sturdivant, here is the answer. His 10,000 bitcoins were back into the market in no time. He traded it for fiat currency worth approximately 400 USD at the time.

Not a holiday until 2014

As much as Bitcoin Pizza Day is a big deal now, it was not celebrated until 2014. The story of the cryptocurrency transaction by Laszlo became more popular via a New York Times article and a tweet in the year 2014. Before 2013, awareness about crypto payments was relatively low. However, after this necessary boost in 2014, the story gained momentum featuring in major media organizations in the United States of America.

One would be surprised to know that the crypto community doesn't just have one day to commemorate. There are various landmarks in the timeline of cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoins. There are days such as Satoshi Disappear Day on 28th April, whose declaration occurred in 2011.

Now Trending!

If you think bitcoin transactions refer to a shadow economy filled with illegalities and black dealings, you would be under the wrong impression. There are a number of things apart from pizzas that can be bought and sold with the help of crypto payment processors, such as cars, properties, precious collectibles and souvenirs, art and creation, and so on. Cryptocurrencies can also be used to make bookings in the travel industry, for instance, and web services, among many others. In this day and age, cryptocurrencies have become the talk of the town.

Many businesses have started accepting crypto payments directly through their websites, where users can conveniently make the transaction. If you are struggling with how to accept Bitcoin payments, here are a few steps that summarize the process. Firstly, a business needs to sign up on a crypto payment processor, get a crypto wallet that is just like a normal wallet and then start accepting Bitcoin payments. The wallet is used to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies. The wallet can easily be integrated with the business website. Crypto payments can be easily converted into fiat currency. However, all crypto payment processors charge a transaction fee. Now, the answer to how to pay with Bitcoin is much easier. The buyer also needs to have a wallet. For paying an online business with Bitcoins, the buyer needs to copy the business’s Bitcoin address available on its website and then paste the unique address on a marked area in their wallet. After this, the buyer gets the option to type the amount to be paid and then click the send option. The transaction is completed in a matter of seconds.

If you want to integrate an authentic and reliable crypto payment processor in your online store, you can contact UniPayment and get it implemented seamlessly.

Concluding Remarks

The famous story of Laszlo Hanyecz and Jeremy Sturdivant paved the way for everyone to learn how to accept Bitcoin payments and how to pay with Bitcoin. Today, bitcoin transactions and transactions in other cryptocurrencies have become common as people have gotten aware of its various advantages. People are using it even for making small transactions around the world. Although Laszlo’s order might have been the most expensive order in the world and the most expensive pizzas ever, 22nd May 2010 began a technological revolution in the economy and the entire world.

Understand how to accept cryptocurrency payments to grow your business! Be part of this dynamic business environment by contacting UniPayment today!