On May 22, the cryptocurrency community celebrates International Bitcoin Pizza Day. Less than two years after Satoshi Nakamoto’s nine-page bitcoin whitepaper was published, László Haníez legalized the use of the cryptocurrency with the purchase of two pizzas for 10,000 BTC.
bitcoin pizza day
There are thousands of cryptocurrencies out there, but bitcoin, even today, remains an undeniably simple expression of blockchain technology. From modest beginnings to a trillion-dollar market cap, bitcoin has stood the test of time. Laszlo Hanyecz was actually one of the early contributors to what he considers a fundamental marketing masterpiece for bitcoin adoption.
In the early days, there was no one reliable place where bitcoin trades could be conducted. Instead, BTC was traded through direct communication through discussion boards and Internet relay chat rooms. This was a time when the popular cryptocurrency, as an experimental technology, was only worth a few cents.
On May 22, 2010, Honeyeyes, a Florida-based programmer, became the first person to use bitcoin in a commercial transaction after paying 10,000 BTC for two Papa John’s pizzas. At the time of purchase, the price of bitcoin was $41. Today, 10,000 BTC would cost around $300 million today.
beyond buying pizza
Laszlo Hanyecz is more than just “the guy” who bought the pizza with the 10,000 BTC that the internet sensation likes to make. In honor of Bitcoin Pizza Day, let’s take a look at their phenomenal contributions beyond pizza purchases.
In addition to fixing a number of vulnerabilities during the early stages of the network, Honeyease was also the first developer to release bitcoin code for Mac OS.
He also changed the bitcoin mining landscape. Long before the introduction of application-specific integrated chips (ASICs), bitcoin was being mined using CPUs.
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 the time, even Satoshi Nakamoto, who frequently exchanged many messages with him, thought that introducing GPU mining was too advanced for the development of bitcoin.
Bitcoin has managed to capture the imagination of many industry veterans, but it is time the community recognizes the commitment and efforts of many Bitcoin OGs, including Hanes, who helped make the digital asset what it is today.
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