The $41 Bitcoin Pizza That Became a $1.1B Legend—And a Warning Shot to Skeptics

Back in 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz made history by swapping 10,000 BTC for two pizzas—a deal now worth over a billion dollars. Talk about inflation.

From lunch money to generational wealth (or regret): The infamous transaction—often dubbed ’Bitcoin Pizza Day’—showcases crypto’s absurd volatility. One day you’re tipping delivery guys with digital monopoly money, the next you’re accidentally burning a fortune.

Wall Street analysts weep into their spreadsheets: While traditional investors were busy shorting Tesla, early crypto adopters were accidentally creating nine-figure pizza memes. The ultimate ’what if’ for anyone who dismissed Bitcoin as a fad.

In hindsight, what began as a modest transaction has become the world’s most expensive pizza order.

In perspective, the Bitcoin Hanyecz spent in 2010 could now purchase more than 53 million pizzas, considering each pizza box costs around $20.

Though many now consider Hanyecz’s purchase an expensive lesson, it laid the foundation for Bitcoin’s future as a viable payment system.

Industry players believe that Hanyecz’s transaction marked the first time Bitcoin was used to pay for a real-world product.

His transaction shifted Bitcoin from a speculative concept to a usable currency, showing that peer-to-peer digital payments were not only possible but practical.