Major Milestones
May 22, 2010: Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 Bitcoin for two pizzas — the first real-world Bitcoin transaction. Those pizzas are now worth hundreds of millions of dollars. But Laszlo does not regret it: "I wanted to show that Bitcoin could be used for real commerce."
Across 15+ years, Bitcoin hit many firsts—price, technology, and adoption. Here are the big highlights.
Timeline (quick hits):
- •2011: Reaches $1; first exchanges gain traction.
- •2013: Hits $1,000; global headlines.
- •2017: SegWit upgrade; first big scaling step. Price peaks near $20k.
- •2020: Third halving; institutions begin buying.
- •2021: Taproot upgrade; all‑time high near $69k; El Salvador makes BTC legal tender.
- •2024: Fourth halving; broader corporate and nation‑state interest.
Every milestone in Bitcoin's history — the first transaction, the first exchange, the first $1 price, the first country adoption — was called premature, foolish, or irrelevant at the time. In hindsight, they were the foundation of a monetary revolution.
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