2. Making history with pizza
Bitcoin now underpins a two trillion dollar cryptocurrency industry, but the first recorded transaction using it was a pizza purchase.
On May 22, 2010, Lazlo Haniec offered $41 worth of bitcoins in exchange for two pizzas on a crypto forum.
The 19-year-old student gave in and the day went down in history for currency fans as #BitcoinPizza day.
While being a source of memes for members of the crypto community, it also showcased the power of Bitcoin, an internet currency that can actually be used to buy goods online.
Criminals must have been watching, too, because within a year the first marketplace on the darknet was launched, selling drugs and other illegal goods in exchange for bitcoins.
The deal is now looking pretty bad for Lazlo as well. If he had kept those coins, they would now be worth hundreds of millions of dollars!
3. Become legal tender
In September 2021, the president of El Salvador, Central America, Nayib Bukele, made Bitcoin legal tender.
By law, hairdressers, supermarkets and other shops were required to accept bitcoins along with the main currency, the US dollar.
Many Bitcoin enthusiasts and reporters visited the area, briefly boosting tourism to the country.
Although President Bukele hoped the move would increase investment in his country and reduce citizens’ costs of exchanging money, it has not been as popular as he had hoped.
He still hopes it will take off, but for now the US dollar is still king in the country.
