Tech Transformers

If you bought $100 of bitcoin 7 years ago, you'd be sitting on $75 million now

Key Points
  • The price of bitcoin hit a fresh record high on Monday nearing $2,200.
  • Monday also marks the seventh anniversary of Bitcoin Pizza Day, which is widely considered to be the first transaction using the cryptocurrency.
  • If you bought $100 worth of bitcoin on May 22, 2010, you'd be sitting on around $72.9 million today.
Bitcoin's big rally pushes prices to record highs
VIDEO1:5401:54
Bitcoin's big rally pushes prices to record highs

Monday marks the seven-year anniversary of Bitcoin Pizza Day – the moment a programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz spent 10,000 bitcoin on two Papa John's pizzas.

More important than the episode being widely recognized as the first transaction using the cryptocurrency is what it tells us about the bitcoin rally that saw it break through the $2,100 and $2,200 marks on Monday.

was trading as high as $2,251.61 midday Monday, hitting a fresh record high, after first powering through the $2,000 barrier over the weekend, according to CoinDesk data.

A member of bitcoin trading club poses with bitcoin medals at the club's meeting in Tokyo.
Yoshikazu Tsuno | AFP | Getty Images

On May 22, 2010, Hanyecz asked a fellow enthusiast on a bitcoin forum to accept 10,000 bitcoin for two Papa John's Pizzas. At the time, Hanyecz believed that the coins he had "mined" on his computer were worth around 0.003 cents each.

Bitcoin mining involves solving a complex mathematical solution with the miner being rewarded in bitcoin. This is how Hanyecz got his initial coins.

The cryptocurrency has many doubters as it continues to be associated with criminal activity, but it has still seen a stunning rally. Here are two facts, on Bitcoin Pizza Day, however, that highlight this:

  • While being worth $30 at the time, Hanyecz pizzas would now cost $22.5 million at current bitcoin prices.
  • If you bought $100 of bitcoin at the 0.003 cent price on May 22, 2010, you'd now be sitting on around $75 million.

A number of factors have been driving the rally:

  • Recently passed legislation in Japan that allows retailers to start accepting bitcoin as a legal currency has boosted trading in yen, which now accounts for over 40 percent of all bitcoin trade
  • Political uncertainty globally has driven demand for bitcoin as a safe haven asset
  • A debate within the bitcoin community about the future of the underlying technology behind bitcoin known as the blockchain has been taking place. There was fear at one point this could lead to the creation of two separate cryptocurrencies but those worries have largely subsided with an alternative, more palatable option now being put forward.

For an in-depth look at the factors driving bitcoin, click here.

Bitcoin has rallied over 120 percent year to-date.