May 22 is not an official holiday, but for those of us living in the crypto world, it is a legendary date: Bitcoin Pizza Day. In 2010, a programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz exchanged 10,000 bitcoins for two pizzas from Papa John’s. At that time, he spent only 41 dollars. Today, that transaction would be worth over a billion.
This gesture was more than a craving with cheese: it marked the first time a cryptocurrency was used to acquire a physical good. Since then, that pizza is not just food, it is history.
The price of an idea
Bitcoin was born as a proposal in a cryptography forum on October 31, 2008, right in the middle of a global financial crisis. The author of the document, a mysterious figure under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, proposed a peer-to-peer electronic cash system, without banks or intermediaries.
That idea changed the world. But the most shocking thing is that Nakamoto disappeared after launching the project. He never gave any signs of life, leaving behind a legacy of open source code, libertarian ideals, and a wallet with a million bitcoins that has never been touched.
Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?
Since then, the question remains alive:
Who is really Satoshi Nakamoto?
The theories abound:
A lonely genius?
A group of programmers?
A covert government agency?
Some have even pointed to Elon Musk as a possible author of the whitepaper. But despite technological advances and investigations, no one has managed to reveal his true identity.
And it is that mystery that fuels the myth.
A pizza, a revolution
What started with two pizzas today represents a global industry. Cryptocurrencies have gone from being a geek curiosity to one of the most disruptive economic forces of the 21st century.
But the revolution also has its dark side: speculation, scams, contradictions. Nevertheless, Bitcoin remains a symbol, a declaration of financial independence, especially in countries with unstable economies.
Mr. Nakamoto, the book that seeks answers
Journalist Benjamin Wallace, in his recent book Mr. Nakamoto, turns this story into a nonfiction thriller. He takes us through cypherpunk forums, Silicon Valley, conspiracy theories, utopian islands, and more. All while asking:
Can an idea be more powerful than its creator?
The book does not reveal who Nakamoto is. But it makes one thing clear: in an era where everything is tracked, the greatest digital mystery remains unsolved.
Ready to celebrate the next Bitcoin Pizza Day with knowledge and some crypto philosophy?
We'll read each other in the next story of cyberspace.
