Man made most expensive pizza order in history after using $1,000,000,000 worth of Bitcoin to pay for two pizzas
I don't think I could ever live with myself if I spent the equivalent of more than $1 billion on pizza - but that's exactly what one man did more than a decade ago.
Laszlo Hanyecz is the Florida man who bought two pizzas using 10,000 bitcoins - but his reason for doing so is actually pretty epic, although I'm sure he won't see it that way anymore.
On May 18, 2010, Hanyecz made history as he took to a Bitcoin Forum to write: "I’ll pay 10,000 bitcoins for a couple of pizzas … like maybe 2 large ones so I have some left over for the next day.
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“I like having left over pizza to nibble on later. You can make the pizza yourself and bring it to my house or order it for me from a delivery place, but what I’m aiming for is getting food delivered in exchange for bitcoins where I don’t have to order or prepare it myself, kind of like ordering a ‘breakfast platter’ at a hotel or something, they just bring you something to eat and you’re happy!”
"I like things like onions, peppers, sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes, pepperoni, etc... just standard stuff no weird fish topping or anything like that. I also like regular cheese pizzas which may be cheaper to prepare or otherwise acquire.
"If you're interested please let me know and we can work out a deal. Thanks, Laszio."
You've got to give it to him, he knew what he wanted.
It took four days for someone to take him up on the deal - a British man who ordered Hanyecz two Papa John's pizzas for $25 - and even then, it was a bargain as 10,000 bitcoins held the value of $41.
Just nine months later, the currency matched that of the US dollar - meaning that those 10,000 bitcoins cost $10,000.
Following the successful transaction, Hanyecz took to the platform to write: "I just want to report that I successfully traded 10,000 bitcoins for pizza."
He included a picture of him and his two sons with the two large pizzas, adding 'thanks jercos'.
But what was the epic reason for doing so then?
Speaking to 60 Minutes correspondent Anderson Cooper during his first TV interview, he said: "I honestly thought it would be really cool if I could say, 'Hey, I just traded this, you know, open source internet money for a real world good."
It was one of the first ever transactions for a physical object using bitcoin.
The current value of 10,000 bitcoins is $1,024,825,000 - making each of those pizzas worth $512,412,500 today.
Topics: Bitcoin, History, Money, Technology, Business
Joe Yates