From 10,000 BTC Pizzas to $200K Dreams: Bitcoin’s Wild Ride Since 2009
Bitcoin’s journey reads like a Silicon Valley script—pizza-fueled beginnings, jaw-dropping rallies, and Wall Street skeptics eating crow. Here’s how a cypherpunk experiment became the trillion-dollar disruptor.
The Pizza Heard ‘Round the World
Two Papa John’s pies for 10,000 BTC? That 2010 trade now looks like the ultimate 'HODL' fail—or proof that early adopters valued utility over Lambos.
Peaks, Crashes, and Institutional U-Turns
From $1 to $69,000 ATHs, Bitcoin bulldozed through 'bubble' accusations. Even Jamie Dimon stopped sneering long enough to let JPMorgan clients dabble.
$200K or Bust: The 2025 Gambit
With halvings squeezing supply and ETFs hoarding coins, crypto’s dirty little secret? Traditional finance now needs Bitcoin more than it admits.
Love it or hate it, Bitcoin keeps cutting through noise—and banker egos—like a cryptographic chainsaw. Just don’t ask about those pizzas.
- Bitcoin has made a significant transition since its official launch in 2009.
- From being used to buy two large pizzas and hitting $100,000, Bitcoin has shown that it has a high potential to grow.
Since Bitcoin’s launch in 2009, the top cryptocurrency has shown significant growth over time both in its price and its real-world value. As of today, the token hit a new all-time high, breaking past $120,000, and because of that, we’ve put together a summary of all the significant levels Bitcoin has successfully crushed.
First Bitcoin Mined
On January 3rd, 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto created the Genesis Block and mined the first-ever Bitcoin. The anonymous Bitcoin creator mined about 50 BTC. Basically, Satoshi created what is called a proof-of-work blockchain system that allowed people, or ‘miners’ as we would call them today, to carry out different mathematical problems, and when they successfully complete it, a new block is added to the blockchain. Every new block created now records the most recent Bitcoin transaction.
Bitcoin’s First Real-World Transaction
On May 22nd, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz, a Florida-based man, agreed to give 10,000 bitcoin in exchange for 2 large pizzas. Another British man accepted the offer and sent Laszlo two huge pizzas, congratulating him on the new milestone.
This simple exchange still rings a bell in the minds of many in the crypto space, as May 22nd is now recognized as World Pizza Day.
Bitcoin Growth Milestones Between 2010 and 2012
The pizza transaction was done on PayPal; however, the token stopped being transacted on PayPal due to the increased number of scammers on the platform. In 2010, a member of the old Bitcoin forum announced the launch of the Bitcoin market, the first crypto exchange. As of the launch, bitcoin was trading at $0.003.
Three years after the official launch of Bitcoin, the first halving took place. When Satoshi created Bitcoin, it was created in such a way that Bitcoin only has a 21 million supply. That is, all the Bitcoin in circulation is not more than 21 million; this helps create scarcity. So in November 2012, the reward for mining one Bitcoin on the blockchain was reduced from 50 BTC to 25 BTC. The price was trading at $12.38.
Bitcoin New All-Time High, Mt. Gox Collapse, and First Crypto ATM
In 2013, the price of Bitcoin hit a high of $1,000. That year, the price was at about $13 at the beginning of the year and closed at about $1,100 in December. In that same year, Vancouver installed the first crypto ATM that allowed people to deposit cash for crypto.
One year later, Mt. Gox, one of the top crypto exchanges holding about 70% of the Bitcoin supply, collapsed, causing users to lose 744,000 Bitcoin. This loss caused Bitcoin’s price to drop by 55%.
MicroStrategy Buys Bitcoin
In 2020, MicroStrategy, headed by Michael Saylor, became the first publicly traded company to buy Bitcoin. The company purchased 21,454 Bitcoin for $250 million.
Bitcoin Price Falls to $16,000 Despite 2021 High of $64,000
In 2022, FTX, one of the largest crypto exchanges at the. The failure of the crypto exchange platform caused the price of Bitcoin to drop to about $15,800.
Bitcoin Hits $100,000
On the 4th of December 2024, the Bitcoin price hit $100,000. The token’s price broke through that level due to the US election. Due to the promise Donald Trump made to make the US the crypto capital, many investors started to buy the token again. The significant price rise also comes after the SEC approved Bitcoin Spot ETFs.
Today, the bitcoin price has finally broken past the $120,000 mark. Many analysts have predicted that this is just the beginning of the highs Bitcoin would get to, with many predicting that the asset would soon get to the $200,000 mark.
: This article is based on real-time market data and general technical observations. It does not constitute financial advice. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.
