Pizza parties rarely need an explanation. But pizza parties on Bitcoin Pizza Day deserve one. 

Thirteen years ago today, Laszlo Hanyecz created a thread in the bitcointalk.org forum titled Pizza for bitcoins? After some explanation and much discussion, Hanyecz found someone willing to buy him two pizzas (valued at ~$41) in exchange for his 10,000 bitcoin. 

At bitcoin’s price today, those pizzas are worth ~$270,000,000. 

Many look back on Bitcoin Pizza Day as a cautionary tale that demonstrates why people HODL crypto for the long term. Yet, many others look to the future on this day while considering the unrealized potential of Bitcoin and the power of decentralization.

Ultimately, Bitcoin Pizza Day has become a celebration of Bitcoin’s viability as a complete “peer-to-peer electronic cash system” — just as Satoshi envisioned in the Bitcoin white paper.

Money (including cash) is generally defined as:

1. A medium of exchange
2. A unit of account
3. A store of value

On this day more than a decade ago, the world saw that Bitcoin could be used as a medium of exchange. After all, Hanyecz was able to use Bitcoin while transacting with another individual — without any intermediary’s participation. 

Yet, as time has gone on, Bitcoin Pizza Day has also become a reminder of the progress Bitcoin has made in the other two functions of money as well.

As individuals continue to exchange Bitcoin for goods and services — just as Hanyecz did years ago — Bitcoin’s viability as a global unit of account and independent store of value has also emerged. Days like today are a reminder that first proving its effectiveness as a medium of exchange is what has ultimately allowed Bitcoin to prove its legitimacy as a globally recognized unit of account and self-sovereign store of value as well. 

Bitcoin Pizza Day is a celebration of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology’s effectiveness in decentralizing information. It is also a celebration of Bitcoin’s reliability as a sound form of money. 

For many others, Bitcoin Pizza Day is a celebration of the crypto values Kraken embodies and the mission we deliver on each day. It is a celebration of the freedom that Bitcoin brings back to individuals’ ability to connect and transact.