Bitcoin Pizza Day 2026: The 10,000 BTC Pizza Purchase Now Worth $777.87 Million
The 10,000 BTC paid for two Papa John's pizzas in 2010 is valued at $777.87 million on the 16th anniversary, down 29.7% from the 2025 record of $1.106 billion. The decline tracks Bitcoin's drop from its October 2025 all-time high near $126,000, with Bitcoin trading near $77,300 at the time of reporting.
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The Original Transaction
On May 18, 2010, Florida programmer Laszlo Hanyecz offered 10,000 BTC to anyone who would order him two Papa John's pizzas on the BitcoinTalk forum. Four days later, 19-year-old forum user Jeremy Sturdivant accepted, ordered the pies and received the coins by manual transfer. At the time, the 10,000 BTC were worth roughly $41, which is generally regarded as the first exchange rate between Bitcoin and a consumer good.
Pizza Day is observed each May 22. Coverage from Bitcoin Magazine and Bitcoinist both framed the anniversary as a marker of how far the network has moved from a consumer-payments experiment toward nation-state adoption, though the sources differ in emphasis.
Revaluation Over Time
Because the 10,000 BTC figure is fixed, each anniversary revalues the transaction at that day's spot price, making it a convenient annual benchmark. Bitcoin Magazine reported the stack at $674 million in 2024 and a record $1.106 billion in 2025, when Bitcoin traded at $110,568 on that day's all-time high. With Bitcoin near $77,300 this year, Bitcoin Magazine puts the stack at $777.87 million, a decline of about 29.7% year over year.
Bitcoinist's report does not cite a separate valuation figure, so the $777.87 million number rests on a single source's calculation. Readers should note that the figure moves with the spot price on the day it is measured and will differ depending on the exchange or price index used.
What Drove the Drawdown
Bitcoin Magazine ties the decline to a sequence of events beginning October 6, 2025, when Bitcoin reached a then-record $126,000. Four days later, the White House announced 100% tariffs on Chinese imports and export controls on critical U.S. software. Bitcoin Magazine reports that total crypto market capitalization fell nearly $200 billion in one session, Bitcoin dropped from $122,000 to $107,000, and roughly $19 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated, which it describes as the largest single-day liquidation event in crypto history.
The same source says Q1 2026 was Bitcoin's third-worst opening quarter on record, closing down 23.2%, with spot Bitcoin ETFs recording $4.5 billion in outflows over the first eight weeks of the year. It attributes further pressure to U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran on February 28, after which Bitcoin traded between $60,000 and $75,000 for much of March. Bitcoin Magazine reports a roughly 14% recovery so far in Q2.
Market Context and Differing Framing
As of Bitcoin Magazine's reporting, total crypto market capitalization stood at $2.65 trillion, down from $2.9 trillion a week earlier. Bitcoinist's coverage centers on nation-state adoption as the current frontier for Bitcoin advocates, contrasting it with the 2010 pizza purchase, though its excerpt does not give specific adoption figures. The two sources agree on the date and the original transaction but differ in focus: one is a market-data retrospective and the other a narrative about institutional and sovereign interest.
Why It Matters
For Traders
Bitcoin's spot price near $77,300 and recent ETF outflows make short-term positioning sensitive to macro headlines, including tariff and geopolitical news.
For Investors
The 29.7% year-over-year decline in the anniversary valuation reflects a drawdown from the October 2025 peak, a reminder that Bitcoin's cycle volatility has not reset.
For Builders
The sharp liquidation event and ETF outflow data highlight how leverage concentration and institutional flows can amplify volatility across infrastructure dependent on market conditions.
This article is for information only and is not financial advice. Read the full disclaimer.
