Pizza for $260m and other ridiculous purchases with bitcoin

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On May 22, 2010, an early bitcoin enthusiast Laszlo Hanyecz purchased 2 pizzas and paid using just about 10 thousand BTC coins. At the time, bitcoin was trading at the sub-penny value: the total value of the cryptocurrency was about $41.

About 13 years later, the leading cryptocurrency is worth $ 26,880 at the time of writing; this means that the total value of those pizzas is now over $268 million. 

Every year since 2010, bitcoin (BTC) and crypto investors have been celebrating Bitcoin Pizza Day, remembering one of the most ridiculous purchases ever made using BTC. 

Over $260 million for two pizzas? Well, that is indeed the most expensive pizza ever. All Laszlo Hanyecz needed was to hold the BTC for about 11 years, which was over $670 million in late 2021. Today marks thirteen years since the somewhat overprized pizza purchase. 

Over a decade since the infamous pizza purchase, there have been cases where ridiculous amounts of bitcoin were used to pay for products at extreme long-term costs. 

Properties at ridiculous long-term costs

Believe it or not, the 10,00 bitcoin for two pizzas is not the most expensive purchase with crypto.

In 2013, an individual paid 25,500 BTC to purchase a $2 million condo in The Trump Hotel. The request to pay using BTC was a policy set by the building’s owner.

The buyers of the condo have remained anonymous, with speculations that the Winklevoss brothers were the buyers. Valued at $2 million in 2013, the house is now worth over $600 million. At some point in 2021, when the leading cryptocurrency was trading at over $68,000, the 25,500 BTC was valued at $1.7 billion. 

In 2014, a venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya acquired a 1.4-acre piece of land in California for just about $1.6 million. The deal was closed with a 2739 BTC payment when the coin was trading below $600. 

In 2021, Chamath noted that he paid about $27.5 million for the land.

In another interesting property purchase case, a mansion in Miami was purchased for about 455 BTC, or $6 million, at the time.

The seller of the house was a known Bitcoin trader called Michael Komaransky. During BTC’s peak price of $68,000 in 2021, the mansion’s value could be capped at over $30 million. 

Car purchases with BTC

Bitcoin has been used in purchasing more than just fixed property. Several people (that we know of) have purchased motor vehicles at super expensive costs using BTC.

In 2013, a crypto investor Michael Tozoni bought a second-hand car for 1000 BTC, valued at $22,000 at the time.

The BTC is worth about $27 million a few years after the purchase. In fact, in 2021, several investors highlighted the purchase, adding that Michael Tozoni probably never imagined that one bitcoin would surge to $60,000. 

A sports car, Lamborghini Gallardo, was sold in 2013 for 216 BTC. The car was purchased at a Newport Beach Car dealership, making it the first luxury car dealership to accept BTC payments.

In those early days, some crypto users criticized the investor for buying the car at such a high cost, 216 BTC. At the time, the car was worth around $209,900. Today it costs over $5.4 million.

Payment for travel and family time

Some have used bitcoin to pay for travel.

In 2014, the Winklevoss twins allegedly paid about 900 BTC (450 each) for two seats in Richard Branson’s spaceflight. The 900 BTC is now worth over $24 million, (definitely) up from $1 million in 2014.

Finally, in February 2014, the first-ever chartered flight was paid for with 55 BTC. Olivier Janssens, a Bitcoin foundation member, paid for a trip from Brussels to Nice Cot$e D’Azur. That 55 BTC is worth over $1.4 million today.

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