Bitcoin Pizza Day celebrated 10,000 BTC

Bitcoin users spent Sunday reviving one of the market’s oldest origin stories, posting about Laszlo Hanyecz and the 10,000 BTC he used in 2010 to buy two pizzas. The social-media burst landed on May 24, 2026, two days after the anniversary date most often associated with Bitcoin Pizza Day. Posts on X repeated shorthand references including “BITCOIN PIZZA,” “LASZLO” and “FLORIDA,” while other users used the occasion to argue that bitcoin’s sharp price swings serve a purpose for long-term holders. The episode remains one of the best-known markers of bitcoin’s shift from an experiment among programmers to a medium used in an actual commercial exchange. ### Why were people posting about it on May 24 if Bitcoin Pizza Day is usually May 22? May 22 is the date most crypto outlets and bitcoin community posts use for Bitcoin Pizza Day, because that is the day tied to the 2010 pizza transaction. CoinDesk and Cointelegraph both framed their 2025 and 2026 coverage around May 22, and older community posts on Bitcointalk also treat May 22 as the anniversary date. (bitcoinpizzaindex.net) May 24, 2026 was the date of the latest social posts referenced in the briefing, but that appears to have been a continuation of the annual commemoration rather than the original anniversary itself. That is an inference from the timing of the posts and the established May 22 observance in bitcoin coverage. ### What exactly did Laszlo Hanyecz do in 2010? (coindesk.com) Laszlo Hanyecz posted on the Bitcointalk forum on May 18, 2010 that he would pay 10,000 bitcoins for “a couple of pizzas,” according to archived forum records and the Bitcoin Pizza Index. Later coverage by CoinDesk says the purchase involved two Papa John’s pizzas delivered to his home, in what is widely described as the first documented real-world commercial bitcoin transaction. (cointelegraph.com) CoinDesk reported in 2025 that the two pizzas were worth about $40 at the time. That low dollar value is part of why the trade is cited so often in crypto culture: it fixes an early moment when bitcoin had a market price but little mainstream use. ### Why does the number 10,000 BTC still dominate the story? (bitcoinpizzaindex.net) The number 10,000 BTC survives because it is simple, memorable and tied to a first-of-its-kind purchase. The Bitcoin Pizza Index, which tracks the current notional value of that amount, showed the figure at more than $773 million when its page was crawled on May 23, 2026. CoinDesk wrote in 2025 that the same stash had become a $1.1 billion benchmark when bitcoin traded above $111,800. (coindesk.com) Bitcointalk discussions and later reporting also note that Hanyecz bought more pizza with bitcoin after the first deal. A mobile Bitcointalk page citing developer Jameson Lopp said the broader total reached eight pizzas for 40,000 BTC, and CoinDesk podcast coverage said Hanyecz spent nearly 80,000 bitcoin on pizza in 2010. Those later details have not displaced the original 10,000-BTC exchange as the shorthand version of the story. (bitcoinpizzaindex.net) ### What were users saying this year besides reposting the old story? X posts cited in the briefing paired the pizza anniversary with familiar crypto slogans and nostalgia tags, including “BITCOIN PIZZA LASZLO CRYPTO COIN FIRST HAL FLORIDA.” Other users described bitcoin volatility as a “safety mechanism” that shakes out weak holders, according to the social briefing provided for this story. The claim reflects community commentary, not a verified market analysis. (bitcointalk.org) Cointelegraph’s 2026 tag page showed fresh Bitcoin Pizza Day coverage published on May 22, indicating the topic remained active across crypto media even before Sunday’s social posts. That coverage focused on the anniversary age of the transaction and how much the 10,000 BTC would be worth at current prices. ### Where does the story go from here each year? (coindesk.com) May 22 is the date to watch for the next round of Bitcoin Pizza Day coverage, because that is when crypto publications and community forums typically mark the anniversary. Bitcointalk archives, CoinDesk features and Cointelegraph’s 2026 coverage all point readers back to the same milestone: Hanyecz’s 2010 offer and the two-pizza purchase that followed. (bitcointalk.org) (cointelegraph.com)