From $41 to billions: how Laszlo Hanyecz made the most expensive purchase in the history of биткоина

14 years ago, an event occurred that every May reminds the cryptocurrency world of its roots. Laszlo Hanyecz sent a sum to the blockchain that seemed modest at the time, but today is worth a fortune. It was more than just a food purchase — it was the birth of the idea that digital coins could work in real life.

Laszlo Hanyecz and the First Commercial Bitcoin Transaction

On May 22, 2010, what cryptocurrency historians call a turning point took place. Young programmer Laszlo Hanyecz agreed to exchange 10,000 bitcoins for two pizzas. At that moment, the price of the deal was just $41 — a figure that seemed fair to both parties. No one could have predicted that a decade and a half later, that same portion of food would be valued at hundreds of millions of dollars.

With the current Bitcoin exchange rate at $66.4K (as of March 2026), those very 10,000 coins would be worth approximately $664 million. This makes Laszlo Hanyecz’s pizza not just food but a symbol of missed opportunities and simultaneously a triumph for early cryptocurrency adopters.

In the crypto community, this date has become a tradition. Every year on May 22, Bitcoin Pizza Day is celebrated, when market participants recall the first real application of digital currency and reflect on what historical deals they are making at that moment.

Where Are Laszlo Hanyecz’s Bitcoins Today: Are They Still in the Wallet?

One of the most intriguing mysteries of the crypto market is what happened to the rest of Laszlo Hanyecz’s portfolio. To this day, he has not revealed to the world whether he kept any bitcoins after that fateful pizza purchase. If so, he could be one of the richest people on the planet.

However, there are several likely scenarios. Like many early investors, Laszlo may have sold his coins long before current prices. When Bitcoin first reached $100 and then $1,000, many firmly believed that was the market peak and got rid of their assets. Other early participants simply lost access to their wallets, forgot passwords, or lost private keys, turning their bitcoins into eternally locked time capsules.

What exactly happened to Laszlo Hanyecz’s assets remains his personal mystery. Some blockchain researchers have attempted to trace his addresses, but to no avail. The silence of the event’s author leads to new speculations each year.

Why Laszlo Hanyecz’s Story Changed the Financial World

Laszlo Hanyecz’s transaction was much more than an exchange of virtual tokens for real food. It demonstrated that Bitcoin could function as a means of payment in the real economy, rather than remain just a theoretical construct.

This event paved the way for all subsequent applications of cryptocurrencies in commerce. Today, millions of people use Bitcoin and other digital assets for transactions, investments, and value storage. The global cryptocurrency market has grown into trillions of dollars, and this development traces its roots back to the moment when Laszlo Hanyecz decided to order pizza.

Regardless of the current state of his personal portfolio, Laszlo Hanyecz has entered history. His pizza remains a monument to the early days of Bitcoin, reminding us that the greatest technological revolutions often begin with simple, almost unnoticed actions. And every May, the crypto community celebrates the day when one person named Laszlo Hanyecz showed the world that the future of money has already arrived.