Laszlo Hanyecz's Historic Bitcoin Pizza Purchase: Why He Never Regrets Trading 10,000 BTC for Pizza

In May 2010, when Bitcoin was virtually unknown to the world, one programmer made a decision that would become legendary in cryptocurrency history. Laszlo Hanyecz, an early Bitcoin adopter and mining pioneer, posted an unusual offer on the Bitcoin forum: 10,000 Bitcoins in exchange for two large pizzas. This wasn’t just a casual trade—it became the first real-world transaction that proved Bitcoin could function as an actual currency, not merely as digital data locked in computer storage.

The Pioneer Who Changed Bitcoin Forever: Laszlo Hanyecz’s Role in Crypto History

Laszlo Hanyecz wasn’t your average Bitcoin enthusiast. As a programmer and one of the earliest miners, he quickly grasped what most people missed: Bitcoin had utility. In 2010, when mining was still straightforward enough for individual computers, Laszlo amassed tens of thousands of coins through GPU mining—a technique he helped pioneer. According to blockchain analysis tools, his wallet reached a peak balance of over 20,900 BTC in May 2010 alone, eventually accumulating more than 43,000 BTC by June that year.

On May 18, 2010, at 12:35 UTC, Laszlo made his historic post. He wasn’t desperate or testing something risky—he was simply curious. “The reason I wanted to buy pizza with Bitcoin is because it was free pizza for me,” he later explained. “I wrote this thing and mined Bitcoin, and I felt like I won the Internet that day. I earned pizza by contributing to open source projects.” To Laszlo Hanyecz, Bitcoin mining felt like a hobby that now had practical value: rather than spending money on dinner, his computational work could directly purchase it.

The transaction took four days to complete. On May 22, 2010, Jeremy Sturdivant, a 19-year-old Bitcoin believer himself, accepted the deal. Laszlo Hanyecz received two large Papa John’s pizzas and posted a photograph as proof—a simple image that would become immortalized in cryptocurrency culture as “Bitcoin Pizza Day.”

From $30 to $260 Million: The Mathematics of Early Bitcoin

The numbers tell a stunning story. In May 2010, those 10,000 Bitcoins were worth approximately $30. A pizza transaction that seemed trivial at the time became a measuring stick for Bitcoin’s astronomical appreciation. By 2025, the same transaction would be valued at over $260 million. If Laszlo Hanyecz had accumulated 100,000 Bitcoins total (which blockchain records suggest he did), his total spending power in Bitcoin would now exceed $4 billion.

Yet remarkably, Laszlo Hanyecz has consistently stated he harbors no regrets. This wasn’t denial or false bravado—it reflected his genuine philosophy toward Bitcoin. He didn’t buy Bitcoin to get rich. He participated in mining to support an open-source experiment that fascinated him. The pizza was simply the first successful real-world test of whether his beloved project could actually work in practice.

Two Visionaries, No Regrets: Laszlo Hanyecz and Jeremy Sturdivant’s Enduring Peace with History

Jeremy Sturdivant, the pizza seller, embodied the same pragmatic spirit as Laszlo Hanyecz. He had mined thousands of Bitcoins himself and immediately spent the 10,000 BTC he received on travel experiences with his girlfriend. In a 2018 interview, Jeremy was refreshingly honest: he never anticipated Bitcoin would appreciate to such extreme levels, yet he wouldn’t trade his decision back. To him, the immediate $400 value of his earned Bitcoins, which later appreciated tenfold, made it an excellent transaction.

This mutual satisfaction between Laszlo Hanyecz and Jeremy reveals something profound about early Bitcoin participants: they weren’t speculators waiting to cash out. They were experimenters who believed in what they were building. The transaction itself—proof that Bitcoin could move in the real world—held more value than the potential future price.

Laszlo Hanyecz maintained a remarkably low profile after his pizza purchase changed history. He never sought attention, never opened social media accounts promoting his wealth, and never capitalized on his fame. “Honestly, I kind of stayed out of it because there was so much attention,” he once reflected. “I didn’t want to draw that attention and I certainly didn’t want people to think I was Satoshi. I just thought it was better as a hobby. I have a normal job, I’m not doing Bitcoin full-time. I don’t want it to be my responsibility and my career. I’m glad I was able to be involved to this extent.”

A Meme That Built Culture: Why Bitcoin Pizza Day Still Matters in 2026

What started as a simple trade became the cornerstone of cryptocurrency culture. Every May 22, the Bitcoin community celebrates “Bitcoin Pizza Day” not as a meme about missed wealth, but as a commemoration of the moment Bitcoin proved its fundamental purpose: peer-to-peer electronic cash. The transaction demonstrated something no whitepaper could—that the system worked in real conditions with real people.

Laszlo Hanyecz’s contributions extended far beyond the pizza transaction. His work on Bitcoin Core and GPU mining optimization remained foundational to the network’s development. Yet the pizza story overshadowed these technical achievements, becoming the most memorable part of his legacy.

Today, the significance of that May 2010 transaction has only deepened. Laszlo Hanyecz and Jeremy Sturdivant weren’t just early adopters or lucky gamblers—they were early believers who understood something the world couldn’t see yet. The pizza they exchanged for 10,000 Bitcoins represented faith in a vision, and history validated that faith. Their contentment with their choices, even in the face of extraordinary numbers, speaks to a different measure of wealth: the satisfaction of being part of something revolutionary when it was still revolutionary.