Bitcoin Pizza Day is an annual celebration that commemorates the first real-world transaction using Bitcoin. On May 22, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz made history by purchasing two Papa John’s pizzas for 10,000 BTC. This seemingly trivial transaction has since become a cornerstone in the cryptocurrency community, symbolizing the early adoption and real-world application of Bitcoin.
The Historical Significance
The story of Bitcoin Pizza Day is often compared to the tale of Peter Minuit purchasing Manhattan Island for $24. At the time, 10,000 BTC was worth approximately $41, making each Bitcoin valued at around $0.0041. This transaction not only marked the first real-world purchase using Bitcoin but also helped establish its initial market value.
Laszlo Hanyecz, a pioneer in mining Bitcoin using GPUs, didn’t stop at just one transaction. He spent around 100,000 BTC on pizzas throughout the month, making him a sort of Santa Claus in the Bitcoin community, giving away value almost flippantly.
The Lessons and Regrets
Bitcoin Pizza Day serves as a time for reflection, often triggering daydreams of becoming a Bitcoin billionaire through a single brilliant trade. Many people fantasize about being the person who sold the pizzas rather than the one who mined the Bitcoin. This mindset reveals a fiat mentality, where the value hierarchy is rooted in fiat money, and the desire is to be lucky rather than skilled.
Everyone has their own Bitcoin regret stories. Whether you heard about Bitcoin in 2011, 2013, or even as recently as 2020, the common thread is the regret of not buying or holding onto Bitcoin when it was cheaper. These regret stories are like bad-beat stories in poker, unproductive and rooted in fantasies of luckier outcomes.
The Challenge of Holding
One often overlooked aspect of these regret stories is the difficulty of holding onto Bitcoin through its volatile history. Would you have had the conviction to hold through the 85% drawdowns in 2011, 2013, 2014, and 2018? Many people didn’t, and they sold their Bitcoin early, missing out on its meteoric rise.
Holding Bitcoin requires a deep conviction about its fundamental value as sound money. This conviction is not easy to develop and requires years of study and unwavering resolve. Early adopters faced numerous challenges, from scams to the collapse of exchanges like Mt. Gox, making it a miracle that some managed to hold onto their Bitcoin at all.
Building Conviction
Developing deep conviction in Bitcoin is challenging, especially for early adopters. In the early years, everyone was calling Bitcoin a scam, and there were no educational resources to explain why you should hold. Today, we have numerous resources, including podcasts, books, and videos, to help us navigate the space and develop the conviction needed to hold through challenging times.
Bitcoin Derangement
Interestingly, many early non-technical Bitcoin advocates have now turned to promoting altcoins. This pattern is similar to lottery winners who end up worse off years after winning. They were ill-equipped to manage their windfall and often fell victim to scams or became scammers themselves.
Level Up Your Convictions
Bitcoin Pizza Day should serve as a reminder that forming conviction is no easy task. True conviction demands knowledge, wisdom, and courage—virtues that require time, energy, and effort to develop. Rather than envying early adopters, we should strive to cultivate the conviction needed to hold through challenging times and provide value in the process. As the saying goes in the Bitcoin community, "It’s still early."
On Pizza Day, commit to leveling up your convictions and remember that the journey to understanding and holding Bitcoin is a marathon, not a sprint.
Sources
- Happy Bitcoin Pizza Day, CoinDesk.
- The Wrong Lessons of Pizza Day, Bitcoin Magazine.
