This man paid 10,000 bitcoins for two pizzas in 2010: how much money would they be worth now?

Laszlo Hanyecz is a household name in the early bowels of Bitcoin. This programmer was one of the first to be interested in the blockchain and alternative currency system proposed by the still mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto. And he was also one of the first to mine cryptocurrency from his personal computer, when the process of creating these cryptocurrencies required much less resources. He was also the first to execute a Bitcoin payment. Problem, that was probably the most expensive pizza order ever.

Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 Bitcoin in 2010 from the Papa John’s chain. Today, that transaction would be equivalent to the payment of just over 330 million euros.

His story, commented on in early cryptocurrency forums, was the subject of a short documentary broadcast by the American CBS program.

“Honestly, I thought it would be great to be able to say, ‘Hey, I just traded this, you know, open source internet money for real-world good,'” he said in that piece.

The intrahistory was the following. Hanyecz posted on a Bitcoin forum a request to pay 10,000 Bitcoin for two pizzas. After about four days, Jeremy Sturdivant (aka Jercos) contacts him on May 22, 2010. He assures Hanyecz that he will send him two pizzas. The deal goes through and Hanyecz proudly announces on the same forum:

I just want to announce that I have successfully exchanged 10,000 Bitcoins for pizza. Thank you Jerkos.

From 41 dollars to 330 million: the price change of those Bitcoins exchanged for pizza

Generally considered the first Bitcoin transaction in history, Hanyecz paid Sturdivant US$41 for the exchange in its Bitcoin equivalent at the time.

Today, Hanyecz, a native of Jacksonville, Florida, is an IT clerk at Goruck, a clothing company that specializes in making backpacks. Since his employee is an internet celebrity, Goruck also accepts Bitcoin. Hanyecz himself says that he does not regret the transaction; after all, someone should have started those first purchases.

What happened to those 10,000 Bitcoins?

The question that many will have asked is: What happened to the 10,000 Bitcoin that Laszlo Hanyecz paid for the pizzas then? In one, Sturdivant answered that question. According to him, the 10,000 Bitcoin would have quickly found its way back into the business cycle.

Sturdivant reportedly spent them on video games from the Humble Bundle distribution platform. According to his own statements, he has also not participated in any initiative focused on Bitcoin afterwards. Currently, he works as a product engineer at Inovonics, a manufacturer of professional broadcast equipment.

Since the legendary Bitcoin pizza transaction, also in the eyes of regulators and the general public. A transformation that will surely take its course. Although those two pizzas, the first bought by Bitcoin, were worth much more than their weight in gold.