Bitcoin’s Pizza Day 12th Anniversary: 2 Pizzas for 10,000 BTC

The Florida-based programmer, Hanyecz, went on to become the first person to use Bitcoin in a commercial transaction after paying 10,000 BTC for two Papa John’s pizzas on May 22, 2010. At the time of purchase, Bitcoin was worth $41. Today, 10,000 BTC would today cost around $300 million.

Beyond Pizza Purchases

Laszlo Hanyecz is more than just “that guy” who bought Pizzas with 10,000 BTC that the internet loves to sensationalize. In honor of Bitcoin Pizza Day, let’s look into his groundbreaking contributions beyond the pizza purchase.

Apart from fixing many vulnerabilities during the early stages of the network, Hanyecz was also the first developer to release the Bitcoin code for Mac OS.

He also transformed the Bitcoin mining landscape. Much before the onset of application-specific integrated chips (ASICs), Bitcoin was being mined using CPU.

The transition to GPU mining didn’t happen until Hanyecz developed a mining code that enabled miners to mine BTC using their graphics cards [GPUs]. At that time, even Satoshi Nakamoto, who had frequently exchanged several messages with him, thought that introducing GPU mining was too advanced for Bitcoin’s development.

Bitcoin has managed to capture of imagination of many industry stalwarts, but it’s time the community recognizes the commitment and efforts of the many Bitcoin OGs, including Hanyecz, who helped the digital asset become what it is today.