Bitcoin Pizza Day Turns 15: How 10,000 BTC Could Have Bought Private Islands, Manhattan Penthouses And Some Of The World’s Most Extravagant Luxuries Today

Bitcoin BTC/USD Pizza Day is here again, reminding us of the first commercial use of the prized digital currency. The event, celebrated each year on May 22, has become immortalized and serves as an important reminder of the cryptocurrency’s humble beginnings.

What happened: In 2010, Florida-based software developer Laszlo Hanyecz accidentally gave the cryptocurrency world a date to remember when he paid 10,000 BTC (yes, you heard that right) for two Papa John’s pizzas.

Hanyecz said on a Bitcoin forum that he “successfully traded” 10,000 Bitcoins for two pizzas.

According to the conversation on the forum, 1 Bitcoin was worth $0.0041 on the historical day, taking the total purchase amount to $41. 

Fast forward to 2025, and the same stash is worth $1.10 billion, based on a per-unit price of $110,982.80, making the pizzas the most expensive ever.

What if Hanyecz had held onto his coins and instead used fiat currency to satisfy his pizza craving?

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Well, he could have purchased a private island. And not just one, but several. For context, the Big Darby Island in the Bahamas was recently sold for $40 million.

But he’d still have plenty left. So he might as well consider buying a penthouse in the Manhattan neighborhood of New York. 

Manhattan penthouses are exceptionally expensive. Prices range from around $2 million to over $48 million, with some reaching upwards of $135 million.

Hanyecz could have also chosen to fund a space tourism trip for dozens of people (including me). SpaceX reportedly charged around $55 million per seat for flights to the International Space Station, according to a New York Times report.

While we don’t know if Hanyecz is an art aficionado, he might have used some of his fortune to outbid at some of the world’s most prestigious art auctions.

The most expensive artwork ever sold at auction was Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi,” which fetched $450 million at Christie’s in New York in 2017. 

Well, demands are boundless and luxuries plentiful. So, even a billion dollars might not be enough.

But one thing is certain—the legend of those two pizzas will keep reminding the cryptocurrency community about the importance of small beginnings.

Did you order your pies?

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