Bitcoin Pizza Father Laszlo: A $900 million gamble, I have no regrets

On May 22, 2010, Bitcoin made a legendary mark in history. But few people know that Laszlo Hanyecz, the programmer who initiated Bitcoin Pizza Day, remains calm when facing today’s prices. The transaction where he exchanged 10,000 bitcoins for two pizzas is now worth over $900 million—yet it remains his most regret-free decision.

Worth $30 Back Then, Who Knew It Would Rise Like This

The story begins in May 2010. At that time, Bitcoin was still very new, and most people had no idea what this “virtual currency on the internet” was. Laszlo launched a bold attempt on the Bitcoin Talk forum—he posted a bounty offering to trade 10,000 bitcoins for two large pizzas.

In his post, he detailed his flavor preferences and said the seller could either make the pizzas themselves or order delivery. It seemed a bit crazy at the time because no one knew if Bitcoin even had any value.

After waiting four days, on May 22, Laszlo finally posted a photo of the pizzas— the transaction was successful. At that time, the market value of 10,000 bitcoins was about $30. Laszlo even worried that his bid was too low and that no one would respond. But what happened? This transaction became one of the most symbolic moments in cryptocurrency history.

This was not only the first physical transaction after Bitcoin’s birth but also proved to the world that Bitcoin could be used to buy things. During an era when many still regarded Bitcoin as a speculative tool, Laszlo demonstrated through action that it could indeed serve as a payment method.

Mining a Card for Pizza, a Sense of Achievement for Me

Why did Laszlo dare to do this? It all starts with his identity. He was not only one of the earliest programmers to get involved with Bitcoin but also a pioneer in GPU mining. In Bitcoin’s early days, earning new coins with graphics cards was much easier than today, so Laszlo quickly accumulated tens of thousands of bitcoins.

According to data from the blockchain explorer OXT, Laszlo’s wallet started receiving more funds from May 2010. By the end of May, his balance peaked at 20,962 bitcoins. The 10,000 bitcoins used to buy the pizza were quickly offset by subsequent mining income. Even more astonishing, in June 2010, he created a wallet record with 43,854 bitcoins, after which Bitcoin gradually flowed out.

In a 2019 interview with Bitcoin Magazine, Laszlo explained why he did it:

The reason I wanted to buy pizza with Bitcoin was because it felt like a free dinner to me. Bitcoin was something I coded myself, contributed to open source projects, and mined. When the pizza was delivered to me that day, I really felt like “I won the whole internet.” Usually, I invest my time and money into hobbies, but that time, my passion paid me back with a dinner—my hobby, bought me a pizza.

This reveals his most genuine thoughts. For Laszlo, the value of that transaction was never about the monetary worth of Bitcoin but about the sense of achievement in “exchanging his labor for tangible goods.” At that time, being able to use graphics card computations to obtain virtual currency to buy real food was a technological and cultural breakthrough.

Where Did the 100,000 Bitcoins Go?

As Bitcoin’s price continued to soar, online users began updating the latest value of those two pizzas in comments. Laszlo also admitted that he didn’t expect Bitcoin to rise so quickly.

But more notably, after completing this epoch-making transaction, Laszlo began to frequently use Bitcoin for daily expenses. It’s estimated that he spent about 100,000 bitcoins—at today’s BTC price of $90,230, that’s over $9 billion. The two pizzas from back then have now become the most expensive dinner in human history.

The seller who made the deal with Laszlo was Jeremy Sturdivant, a 19-year-old from California at the time. Jeremy was also an early Bitcoin user and had mined several thousand bitcoins himself. When he received the 10,000 bitcoins, he decided to use them to fund his and his girlfriend’s travels—another form of “consumption.”

In a 2018 interview, Jeremy said he never thought Bitcoin would appreciate to this extent. But he has no regrets, because selling the pizza earned him $400, which appreciated tenfold. For him, that deal was already very worthwhile.

The Low-Key Programmer’s Obsession

Years later, as Bitcoin’s price skyrocketed, Laszlo remained calm and positive. His mindset is rooted in his unchanged view of Bitcoin—since joining the open-source community in 2010, it’s never been a career for him, just a pure interest and passion.

Laszlo has always been quite low-profile. He doesn’t have social media accounts and generally stays silent publicly. Still, he has clearly expressed his thoughts:

Honestly, I tend to stay detached because there’s just too much attention. I don’t want to be overly scrutinized, nor do I want people to mistake me for Satoshi. I just think it’s more comfortable to treat this as a hobby.

He further explained, “I have a normal job and don’t plan to turn Bitcoin into a full-time career. I don’t want it to become a responsibility or burden. Participating at this level already makes me satisfied.”

This attitude contrasts sharply with external expectations. Many believe he should regret the “missed” $9 billion, but Laszlo has never shown any remorse. He once mentioned on a forum that he was quite happy back when he mined coins for pizza.

An Eternal Symbol in Bitcoin History

Bitcoin Magazine’s 2019 report mentioned that they are grateful Laszlo was willing to be part of this history. In fact, his contributions to Bitcoin go far beyond the pizza transaction—he developed the MacOS version of Bitcoin Core, pioneered GPU mining, and contributed countless lines of code to the community.

Perhaps most interestingly, although this “pizza meme” isn’t as technically significant as his other innovations, it has created a warm cultural symbol for the Bitcoin community. Every year on May 22, “Bitcoin Pizza Day” is commemorated, reminding people of the moment Bitcoin evolved from a cold technical experiment into a daily payment tool.

This is not just a transaction but a microcosm of an era—recording the curiosity and fearlessness of people towards new technology at that time. And Laszlo, in his simplest way, wrote a legendary chapter for Bitcoin.

(Content adapted from PANews report)