- Bitcoin has just hit all-time highs of $10,000.
- Back in 2010, a developer bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins.
- Today, those bitcoins are worth a whopping $100 million.
On May 22, 2010, a developer bought two pizzas using 10,000 units of a then-little-known digital currency called bitcoin.
Today, the price of a single bitcoin has hit $10,000 – making 10,000 of them worth a staggering $100 million (£75 million).
Bitcoin is going nuclear. Just a year ago, it was trading at less than $750, after deflating from what was then seen as the giddy highs of about $1,100 (£847) in late 2013. It has since embarked on an epic bull run.
“10k is a seminal moment for bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general,” CryptoCompare CEO Charles Hayter said in an emailed statement, “highlighting the supernormal returns and speculative like nature of the industry as well as the potential and growing adoption.”
The digital currency has come a long way since 2010, when the purchase of the two Papa John's pizzas by Laszlo Hanyecz from another bitcoin enthusiast marked what is believed to be the first "real-world" bitcoin transaction.
He posted on the Bitcoin Talk forum on May 22, 2010, writing (emphasis ours):
"I'll pay 10,000 bitcoins for a couple of pizzas.. like maybe 2 large ones so I have some left over for the next day. I like having left over pizza to nibble on later. You can make the pizza yourself and bring it to my house or order it for me from a delivery place, but what I'm aiming for is getting food delivered in exchange for bitcoins where I don't have to order or prepare it myself, kind of like ordering a 'breakfast platter' at a hotel or something, they just bring you something to eat and you're happy!
"I like things like onions, peppers, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes, pepperoni, etc.. just standard stuff no weird fish topping or anything like that. I also like regular cheese pizzas which may be cheaper to prepare or otherwise acquire.
"If you're interested please let me know and we can work out a deal."
Ten thousand coins were then worth about $40 (£30). A British user agreed to buy the pizza for him, and even at the time the buyer got a good deal out of it: The person paid only $25 (£19) for the two pizzas.
The date is now marked on an annual basis by bitcoin users in a lighthearted celebration known as "Bitcoin Pizza Day."
And today, 10,000 bitcoins add up to about $100 million (£75 million).
"It wasn't like Bitcoins had any value back then, so the idea of trading them for a pizza was incredibly cool," Hanyecz told The New York Times in 2013. "No one knew it was going to get so big."
