In a few months it will be 24 years since the first purchase paid with cryptocurrencies.
On May 18, 2010, the American programmer of Hungarian origin,
Laszlo Hanyecz
, offered 10,000 bitcoins for two large pizzas, which are currently
equivalent to 610 million dollars,
for the new historic increase this Wednesday.
"I'll pay 10,000 bitcoins for a couple of pizzas. Maybe two grand, so I have something left for the next day," the man wrote on the Bitcointalk forum and added: "What I'm looking for is for them to deliver me food in exchange for bitcoins so I don't have have to order it or prepare it myself, like ordering breakfast in a hotel.
Laszlo Hanyecz's message in which he offered 10,000 bitcoins for a couple of pizzas.
A few days later, Hanyecz announced that he "successfully" exchanged cryptocurrency for food, after "jercos," a British forum user whose real name is Jeremy Sturdiva, paid $25 for Papa John's pizzas.
Back then,
10,000 bitcoins were equivalent to $41
.
Over the years, Bitcoin reached its all-time peak only in November 2021, when it exceeded $65,000 per bitcoin.
“Over the years, I have made numerous purchases exploring the world of Bitcoin software and other similar assets, although I have always considered it more of a hobby,” he shared in an interview with Cointelegraph in 2018. “However, I must admit that I have rarely used "Bitcoin for face-to-face transactions; my experience has been primarily in online shopping," he explained.
This event that changed the global conception of the crypto world established May 22 as
Bitcoin Pizza Day
.
A historic date, not so much because it was the first commercial use, but because of the value that bitcoin would take on in the following years.
Bitcoin does not stop growing
The most famous cryptocurrency in the world approached its all-time high this Wednesday.
After overcoming moments of instability, bitcoin
surpassed $61,000
, and continued its unbridled rise since the approval of a new type of investment indexed to the cryptocurrency.
In the early afternoon, bitcoin was trading around $60,301, closing the gap with the record of $68,991 it reached in November 2021.
The anticipation of the authorization of a new investment product that would follow the price of bitcoin has contributed in recent months to a
recovery in prices
.
The amount of the cryptocurrency had fallen at the end of 2022 after the bankruptcy of several giants in the sector, such as FTX, the second largest cryptocurrency exchange platform.
Bitcoin is trading at more than $61,000.
Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
This new form of investment, a bitcoin index fund (ETF), theoretically allows a broader audience to invest in these cryptocurrencies without having to own them directly.
It was approved on January 10 by the US market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The beginning of the commercialization of this product "generated a new wave of optimism that triggered transaction volumes," said Mikkel Morch, from the specialized fund ARK36.
Investment products linked to listed cryptoassets have attracted some $5.7 billion since the beginning of the year, according to calculations by asset manager CoinShares published on Monday.