Today, bitcoiners the world over will celebrate the anniversary of the most expensive pizzas in history.Bought on 22nd May 2010 by Laszlo Hanyecz, the programmer paid a fellow Bitcoin Talk forum user 10,000 BTC for two Papa John’s pizzas.Back then – when the technology was just over a year old – that equated to roughly $25, but is $5.12m by today’s exchange rate.At bitcoin’s all-time high last December, the pizzas would have been worth an eye-watering $11.47m, making them likely candidates for the most expensive pizzas of all time.Now widely recognised as the first real-world transaction with bitcoin, May 22nd has come to celebrate 'Bitcoin Pizza Day', with cryptocurrency enthusiasts raising a slice to Hanyecz’s infamous hunger pangs that paved the way for early merchant adoption.@BlueJayKay5 @CookiePounder Not on island at the moment, so I'll be celebrating #BitcoinPizzaDay with a big slice of Ham & Pineapple ;) — Mrs P TheBitcoinWife (@TheBitcoinWife) April 30, 2014 "It wasn’t like bitcoins had any value back then, so the idea of trading them for a pizza was incredibly cool," Hanyecz told Nick Bilton in a recent interview with The New York Times.

"No one knew it was going to get so big."Yet, the picture today is vastly different.Worldwide, there are more than 70,000 merchants accepting the young currency, with block chain transactions now averaging over 57,000 per day. indicates that more than 100 brick-and-mortar stores currently accept bitcoin for pizza – and this number is on the rise.Retailers are getting in on the action, too.eGifter, the popular gift card platform is giving away extra points to customers purchasing Domino's, UNO and Papa John’s gift cards using either bitcoin, litecoin or dogecoin.The company is also providing a 10,000-point prize in honour of the 10,000 BTC used in Hanyecz's transaction.E-commerce platform provider snapCard is similarly commemorating Bitcoin Pizza Day by giving away 150 cheese pizzas for $0.99.At press time, the company was reporting an enthusiastic response, with roughly 30 orders placed in the first 10 minutes of the offer going live. lets UK customers choose from over 7,500 listed restaurants for home delivery, many of which may not even realise they are accepting the currency (albeit indirectly).

After a quick postcode search for 'pizza' outlets, we decided to put the service to the test.Surely enough, Papa John's – Hanyecz's brand of choice – came top.A few clicks and a Blockchain web wallet workaround later (a drawback of using iOS) the pizzas were on their way.Freshly-delivered Papa John's pizza at the CoinDesk office - Happy #BitcoinPizzaDay everyone!/CdEHOrujdr — CoinDesk (@coindesk) May 22, 2014 How will you celebrate Bitcoin Pizza Day?Why not head to your local joint and raise a slice to Laszlo Hanyecz, whose late-night escapade changed bitcoin forever.Who knows, maybe one day your pizzas could be worth $5.12m too.The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is an independent media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies.It's a big week for bitcoin — and for pizza.Monday marked Bitcoin Pizza Day — the date seven years ago when Laszlo Hanyecz completed the first ever purchase with bitcoin.

Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoin, a quantity of the cryptocurrency that is now worth more than $21 million.Bitcoin aficionados use that milestone every year to track the growth of the cryptocurrency.The #Bitcoin pizza is worth $20,509,958 today.bitcoin wallet iphone uk(-0.15% from yesterday) Today is Bitcoin pizza day!bitcoin gift card walmart— Bitcoin Pizza (@bitcoin_pizza) May 22, 2017 The #Bitcoin pizza is worth $21,453,066 today.bitcoin price drop april 2015(+4% from yesterday) — Bitcoin Pizza (@bitcoin_pizza) May 23, 2017 While bitcoin's value has grown astronomically since 2010, its price is at an especially high peak right now.bitcoin historical market cap

On Tuesday morning, one bitcoin was valued at $2,245, according to CoinDesk.That one bitcoin today could buy you more than 100 $20 pizzas — let alone what the 10,000 bitcoins Hanyecz spent in 2010 could buy.That amount of the cryptocurrency was then valued at $41.litecoin calculatorHanyecz's pizza purchase was a big deal because no mainstream retailers accepted bitcoin as a form of payment at the time.bitcoin turkeiHe couldn't buy pizza directly with bitcoin, so he traded his 10,000 bitcoins to another user in exchange for the two pizzas.bitcoin hold meaningIn the wild west days of bitcoin, the cryptocurrency was used for pizza and for illicit purchases (mostly drugs) on the online black market Silk Road.best litecoin pool

Now, you can use bitcoin to pay for a Subway sandwich.WATCH: Almost 20 years later, 'Titanic' gets a retro remakeBlue Sky Innovation Technology $100 of bitcoin in 2010 is worth $75 million today Bitcoin has received a lot of attention over the past few weeks in the wake of the recent malware attacks that impacted dozens of countries and thousands of businesses.bitcoin fork newsVictims were required to pay a "ransom" in the digital currency to unlock files that were encrypted by the virus.The question for many business owners is that, given its growing acceptance, is it ready for prime time?Should we accept bitcoin?There's no question that it's been a good investment, particularly if you bought at the right time.According to a report from CNBC, the price of a single bitcoin has recently soared to $2,200 from just $0.003 seven years ago.We know this because on Monday its fans celebrated the anniversary of Bitcoin Pizza Day, when Laszlo Hanyecz, a programmer, spent 10,000 bitcoin for two Papa John's pizzas.

Times have definitely changed.So what's driving the run up in price?CNBC's tech correspondent Arjun Kharpal cites factors such as new legislation in Japan that allows retailers to accept the cryptocurrency (40 percent of all bitcoin trade is in Japan), the resolution of a dispute in the digital community that could've created competing currencies and the general market turmoil brought on by global economic uncertainty.President Donald Trump's stated desire to weaken the dollar and make American goods more attractive overseas may also be contributing., a few high ranking members of his administration, like budget director Mick Mulvaney and vice president Mike Pence's chief economist Mark Calabria, have both supported the cryptocurrency.The currency is not backed by any government and can't be physically held in your hands.It's just out there - in the ether - and protected by blockchain, a digital recordkeeping system that's so secure many banks are considering a move toward adopting it as the backbone of their payment systems.Some small businesses, particularly online retailers, are considering accepting bitcoin as another means of payment.