Do you remember that legendary Pizza Day? Time flies; it’s been 16 years since Bitcoin’s first physical transaction.

To tell the story, it’s quite interesting. In May 2010, an American software engineer named Laszlo Hanyecz posted online saying he wanted to exchange Bitcoin for two pizzas. At that time, he was willing to spend 10k BTC just to try using this emerging virtual currency for transactions. Bitcoin had just appeared not long before, and most people didn’t even know what it was, let alone use it to buy things.

Interestingly, Hanyecz was ignored at first. He even asked in his post if 10k bitcoins were too little. It wasn’t until the evening of May 22 that a user named Jercos finally agreed. And so, Bitcoin completed its first real-world product transaction in history. Because of this transaction, May 22 was forever remembered, and everyone calls it Pizza Day.

Looking back now, the significance of Pizza Day goes far beyond just two pizzas. Many people later contacted Jercos and found out he had already sold those 10k bitcoins at a very low price. It sounds a bit regretful, but from another perspective, if Hanyecz hadn’t actually used Bitcoin to buy pizza back then, Bitcoin might not have the status it has today. It was this bold attempt that showed people the true potential of virtual currencies.

At that time, those 10k bitcoins were worth about $41, which is roughly $0.0041 per coin. And now? Bitcoin’s price has skyrocketed to around $81.84k. Although it recently increased by 1.16% in the past 24 hours, this growth is astronomical compared to 16 years ago. Those two pizzas, in today’s terms, are like ordering takeout with tens of millions of RMB.

But I think what’s truly worth commemorating isn’t the price difference, but the spirit that Pizza Day represents. It reminds us that circulation gives value. If no one is willing to actually exchange Bitcoin for physical goods, it’s just a piece of code. It’s these transactions that transformed Bitcoin from a technical experiment into a real asset. So every year on Pizza Day, I think of this story, and I remember the courage to try back then.