Bitcoin Pizza Day: 16 years later, what the transaction teaches us
On May 22, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz traded 10,000 BTC for two pizzas. The story, today's value, and the real lesson — which isn't the one you hear everywhere.
$ cd /topics/crypto
// 8 articles · 4 sub-topics · 2 series
Crypto, as hype as mechanics.
To understand Bitcoin, stablecoins, DeFi: what it's made of, what it's for, and who pays. We always start from the protocol — not the price. If an article doesn't stand up without the word « moonshot », I don't publish it.
~/topics/crypto/manifesto.md
$ cat manifesto.md
# what you'll find here
✓ mechanics and incentives
✓ up-to-date French tax rules
✓ common mistakes, flagged
✓ sources and code, when useful
# what you won't find
✗ buy/sell signals
✗ hidden affiliate links
✗ « pumping » a token, ever
$ _
# what you'll find here
✓ mechanics and incentives
✓ up-to-date French tax rules
✓ common mistakes, flagged
✓ sources and code, when useful
# what you won't find
✗ buy/sell signals
✗ hidden affiliate links
✗ « pumping » a token, ever
$ _
articles published
8
since 17.05.26
total time
53 min
~6 min average
glossary entries
22
tag /crypto
series
2
Understanding Bitcoin in 5 … · 5 parts
all 8
beginner 5
bitcoin 8
blockchain 1
cryptography 2
ecdsa 1
economics 1
guide 1
history 2
mathematics 1
method 1
mining 1
myths 1
pizza-day 1
risks 1
schnorr 1
secp256k1 1
security 1
side-quest 1
value 1
wallet 1
sorted by date
22.05.26
Bitcoin Pizza Day: 16 years later, what the transaction teaches us
On May 22, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz traded 10,000 BTC for two pizzas. The story, today's value, and the real lesson — which isn't the one you hear everywhere.
/bitcoin
8 min
21.05.26
Math prerequisites for Bitcoin (side-quest)
Modular arithmetic, hash functions, elliptic curves, the law of large numbers — the 4 mathematical building blocks needed to follow the Inside the gears of Bitcoin series, explained as intuition, without heavy formulas.
/bitcoin
10 min
21.05.26
The cryptography of Bitcoin
SHA-256, secp256k1, ECDSA, Schnorr, address derivation: the cryptographic block that holds Bitcoin together, explained at a useful level without drowning in formulas.
/bitcoin
12 min
17.05.26
Origins: what problem does Bitcoin solve?
To understand Bitcoin, you first need to understand what we did before it — and why, in 2008, someone decided that wasn't enough anymore.
/bitcoin
4 min
17.05.26
Under the hood: how does Bitcoin actually work?
Blockchain, blocks, mining, proof of work, public and private keys — the essentials, with no jargon.
/bitcoin
5 min
17.05.26
Why does Bitcoin have value?
Programmed scarcity, halving, network effect: why an asset with no industrial use and no state behind it trades at tens of thousands of dollars.
/bitcoin
4 min
17.05.26
How to buy Bitcoin — and more importantly, how to secure it
Platforms, wallets, seed phrase: the practical guide to buying Bitcoin without getting scammed and keeping it safe.
/bitcoin
5 min
17.05.26
Bitcoin: risks, myths and possible futures
Volatility, energy, crime, regulation: an overview of common objections and real uncertainties around Bitcoin.
/bitcoin
5 min
author's note
I never write about a token while its market cap is under €1B. Not because there's nothing interesting there — quite the opposite — but because the pump & dump risk is too serious for a blog read by beginners. You won't find « x100 » calls here — but you'll find why some happen.
A few articles to read in order — from zero to a solid grasp.
$ cat ./series.toml — from intuitions to an honest analytical frame.
01to read
Origins: what problem does Bitcoin solve?
4 min · 17.05
02to read
Under the hood: how does Bitcoin actually work?
5 min · 17.05
03to read
Why does Bitcoin have value?
4 min · 17.05
04to read
How to buy Bitcoin — and more importantly, how to secure it
5 min · 17.05
05to read
Bitcoin: risks, myths and possible futures
5 min · 17.05