by Professor Justin Robinson
Fifteen years ago, on May 22, 2010, a man named Laszlo Hanyecz unknowingly made history—not in a boardroom or laboratory, but from the comfort of his home, with a keyboard and a craving for pizza. Hanyecz, a programmer and early Bitcoin enthusiast, paid a fellow forum user 10 000 bitcoins for two Papa John’s pizzas. The transaction was the first known instance of Bitcoin being used to purchase a physical good. At the time, 10 000 BTC was roughly $41—approximately the cost of a standard pizza night. Recently, Bitcoin surged to an all-time high of $105 000 per coin, making those two pizzas worth over $1 billion. This surge in value, from $41 to $1 billion, illustrates the exponential growth of Bitcoin’s value over the years. You read that right: one billion US dollars—easily the most expensive pizzas ever baked, and arguably the most famous.
From geek curiosity to global currency
Bitcoin was barely a year old in 2010. It was an experimental digital currency known mostly to cryptographers, libertarians, and software hobbyists. Created by the still-mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin promised a decentralised, peer-to-peer financial system. But it had no real-world value until someone was willing to trade it for something tangible.
It was Hanyecz, a visionary who saw his purchase not as a loss, but as a contribution to something bigger. “It wasn’t like Bitcoins had any value back then,” he said in interviews. “The idea of trading them for a pizza was incredibly cool.” His perspective and willingness to take a risk for something he believed in, set the stage for a revolution.
It was more than cool—it was revolutionary. The transaction gave Bitcoin its first price tag and sparked a movement that would change finance, technology, and even geopolitics.
A slice of history
May 22 is known worldwide as Bitcoin Pizza Day, celebrated by crypto enthusiasts who gather online and offline to honour Hanyecz’s now-legendary purchase. Memes, commemorative Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), and themed pizza parties abound. NFTs are unique digital assets representing ownership of a specific item or content, often used in the crypto and digital art communities.
Yet this is more than a quirky footnote in financial history. It’s a parable of vision, risk, and the astonishing power of technology to reshape our world.
Lessons from a $1 billion pizza
There’s irony in the fact that Hanyecz’s modest meal would eventually be worth more than the GDP of some small nations. But there’s also inspiration. His transaction reminds us that innovation often starts with small, even laughable, acts. That radical ideas may be dismissed until, one day, they aren’t. And that every new economy—whether built on blockchain, AI, or something yet to emerge—begins with a first step. Laszlo Hanyecz didn’t just order dinner. He served the world a vision of what money could become. And if that isn’t worth a pizza, what is?
Professor Justin Robinson is an economist and Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Board of Undergraduate Studies at the University of the West Indies(UWI), Cave Hill Campus.
