How a Slice of Pizza Sparked the Crypto Boom
Doc's note: When bitcoin launched nearly two decades ago, most folks were skeptical that it would ever be used as currency. But, as our cryptocurrency expert Eric Wade explains, bitcoin's real-world use increases every day. And that means a new wave of adoption is rolling in...
It ended up being the most expensive pizza in the world...
On May 22, 2010, computer programmer Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 bitcoin (BTC) for two Papa Johns' pizzas.
At the time, bitcoin was a little-known, experimental technology. The network was launched in 2009 to transfer coins from one wallet to another in a secure, decentralized way.
While early adopters were using the network to mine bitcoin, no one was quite sure what to do with their coins yet.
That's why Hanyecz decided to try an experiment – trade 10,000 bitcoin (worth around $41 at the time) with another user in exchange for pizza.
"Bitcoin pizza day" was the first time cryptocurrency was used to buy real-world goods. And it marked the start of bitcoin going mainstream.
Since pizza day, bitcoin has exploded in popularity, regularly seeing more than 500,000 transactions per day. It has reached a high of more than $122,000 per coin. At that price, the 10,000 bitcoin Hanyecz spent in 2010 would be worth around $1.22 billion.
But bitcoin was just the beginning...
Bitcoin's Simplicity Launched a Trillion-Dollar Crypto Ecosystem
You see, bitcoin was the original Layer 1 ("L1") blockchain – the proof of concept. Its success showed the world that it's possible for strangers to exchange value without the need for intermediaries. And it can be done in a completely transparent, verifiable, and open way.
Since its code is immutable, bitcoin fundamentally has one purpose: to store value. It was designed to do very few, very basic transactions. Simply put, the entire bitcoin network is designed to send coins from one wallet to another.
Bitcoin can't be stretched, watered down, or manipulated. It has a limited supply. So the more people mine it, the less of it there is... and the more valuable it is.
Bitcoin is transparent, predictable, divisible, and unstoppable.
To pull this off, bitcoin's software ensures that senders actually own the coins they're sending. There's a ledger of transactions that anyone can see to verify any wallet's balance at any time.
The network also handles increasing and decreasing computational power trying to process transactions. A simple but effective "difficulty adjustment" happens roughly every two weeks. So when too many blocks come too close together, the network makes it more difficult to approve a block.
And there are entire ecosystems developed around bitcoin...
One of them is the Lightning Network, which allows virtually instantaneous bitcoin transactions by conducting payments on its own network and then reporting them back to the bitcoin network later. With Lightning, bitcoin goes from only processing seven transactions per second ("TPS") to being faster than the Visa credit-card network.
These "proof of concept" crypto chains act as foundations for other projects to build on, each with its own security, speed, and decentralization.
Today, there are more than 10,000 cryptocurrencies. The overall market is worth nearly $4 trillion...
And bitcoin makes up 62% of the total cryptocurrency market. But five of the top 20 most valuable cryptos – which total around $30 billion in value – are simply bitcoin on another network.
And blockchains offer capabilities beyond just transferring tokens from one wallet to another.
For example, owners can deposit cryptos and borrow against them just like we do with real-world assets ("RWAs"). Artists and creators can use tokens to sell their work to a global audience. Institutional investors can sell tokenized RWAs like real estate 24/7. Farmers can use cryptos to predict weather patterns that determine crop yields. And some projects even let users use AI agents to perform everyday tasks.
Anyone can build on these chains... but developers and users must pay for using them by owning and spending some of the L1's coin or token. That means millions of new buyers will be coming online in the coming months and years...
Bitcoin Is Reshaping How the World Does Business
Today, crypto is becoming increasingly mainstream with venture capitalists, business owners, institutions, startups, and even governments building on and using the blockchain.
For example, companies like Merrill Lynch and Vanguard are using AI and the blockchain to run their clients' portfolios through hundreds of different financial scenarios to test how well they'll hold up between now and the year their clients retire.
Steak 'n Shake is having success using bitcoin as a payment network. Large retailers like Walmart China and BMW are using crypto to track and manage their supply chains. And China and the European Union are even working on creating their own central bank digital currencies using the blockchain.
All told, public companies bought more than 18,000 bitcoin during June alone, signaling trust in bitcoin as a long-term store of value.
The rally is thanks to an improving risk sentiment among investors, an increase in companies buying and using cryptos, as well as the anticipation of lawmakers passing clearer regulations to fuel the institutional adoption of cryptos in the U.S.
While its base code and purpose are pretty simple, the things you can do with your bitcoin are growing every day... That's why we believe bitcoin will hit $1 million during our lifetimes.
Good investing,
Eric Wade
Editor's note: Last month, Eric introduced a breakthrough opportunity designed to help investors protect and potentially grow their wealth in this new era – government-backed digital bonds known as "BitBonds."
Backed by the full faith of the U.S. government, these blockchain-based assets are already gaining traction with institutions like JPMorgan Chase and BlackRock. Right now, retail investors have a chance to get in before they go mainstream. You can learn all about them here.