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May 22, 2023 will be the 13th anniversary of “Bitcoin Pizza Day,” the event that saw the first documented BTC transaction for a real product.
Here are this year’s events.
Bitcoin Pizza Day: what is it and what is being celebrated?
It was 22 May 2010, when Laszlo Hanyecz, a programmer, made history by buying two Papa John’s pizzas for 10,000 BTC. At the time, the value was about $41.
Hanyecz’s intent was to demonstrate Bitcoin’s potential also as a currency for everyday transactions, a theory he created for himself as an early adopter of BTC.
And so, Hanyecz posted an offer on a Bitcoin Talk forum, where he promised 10,000 BTC to anyone willing to buy him a couple of pizzas. It was not long before a forum user accepted the offer and ordered the pizzas for him.
As time went on, and as the price of BTC rose thanks to increased demand from users, the Bitcoin Pizza Day event became so symbolic for the entire crypto community that it is celebrated with dedicated events every year.
Not only that, in addition to dedicated events, is also a day to meditate on the incredible value those two pizzas have achieved over time. For example, if we consider BTC at $27,000, now those two pizzas would be worth as much as $270 million.
Bitcoin Pizza Day: crypto-exchange events for this 13th anniversary
Among the biggest supporters of Bitcoin Pizza Day, you can’t miss the number one crypto-exchange in terms of popularity, Binance, which again this year is raffling off lots of prizes.
To celebrate #Bitcoin Pizza Day, we're kicking off a series of #BinancePizza events worldwide!
— Binance (@binance) May 15, 2023
Here’s some of what you can look forward to:
🔸 Pizza
🔸 Giveaways
🔸 #Binance merch
🔸 And much more!
But which countries are we heading to? Find out here 👇 pic.twitter.com/RoZlNhYYaY
The derivatives and copy trading crypto-exchange, Bitget, has also joined the initiative:
🍕 #Bitcoin Pizza Day Treat!
— Bitget (@bitgetglobal) May 16, 2023
Join and claim up to 1,000 $USDT airdrop package!
⏰ May 16, 16:00 – May 22, 16:00 (UTC+8)
👉 Click the link to know more and join now: https://t.co/JPfklUcSe9 pic.twitter.com/TxnMYBZInl
Basically, these are many campaigns dedicated to new and “old” Bitget users, who will be able to claim their prizes in Tether (USDT) by simply following the actions to be taken.
Bitcoin Pizza Day 2023: Bitrefill wants to sponsor local meetups
Renowned crypto gift card provider Bitrefill is also celebrating Bitcoin Pizza Day by offering to become a sponsor of local Bitcoin meetups.
We’re looking to sponsor local Bitcoin meetups for Bitcoin Pizza Day.
— Bitrefill (@bitrefill) May 11, 2023
Tell us in the comments why your meetup deserves free Pizza! 🍕
Winners will be announced in 5 days. 🎉 pic.twitter.com/zPYTflvxBR
Bitrefill will give the winners a free pizza and become a sponsor of their proposed meetups.
Returning to cryptocurrency trading platforms, some have published their own events dedicated to Bitcoin Pizza Day to also offer prizes in BTC to their participating users. Gate.io has offered 1 BTC as a prize.
⏰ Don't miss it!
— Gate.io (@gate_io) May 14, 2023
Join our #Bitcoin Pizza Day Party celebration with 1 $BTC 🥳 🍕
Submit your entry now to win!
👉 https://t.co/CNaaEfjfsW #Gateio #BitcoinPizzaDay2023 #GateioPizzaDay #Giveaway pic.twitter.com/YtZujEb74A
“Don’t miss out! Join the #Bitcoin Pizza Day celebration with $1BTC. Submit your entry now to win!”
Laszlo and paying for pizzas in Lightning Network
Three years ago, the programmer who became famous for Bitcoin Pizza Day wanted to strike again by buying more pizzas in BTC, but using the Lightning Network (LN). At that time, Hanyecz paid 649,000 satoshi, or 0.00649 BTC.
Despite his first big “loss” by buying the first two pizzas with 10,000 BTC, Laszlo wanted to demonstrate once again what could be the only solution to scale the Bitcoin blockchain, namely the Lightning Network.
At the time of writing, 0.00649 BTC is equivalent to $157, a far cry from the $270 million equivalent of the first pizzas.