Crypto
crypto

Bitcoin Pizza Day celebrates its 15th anniversary

Bitcoin Pizza Day is an unofficial crypto holiday that celebrates the first ever real-world bitcoin transaction. On May 22, 2010, programmer and bitcoin fan Laszlo Hanyecz offered 10,000 bitcoin for anyone who’d be willing to order and deliver two pizzas to him. Bitcoin at the time was worth less than a penny a coin, but he successfully bought two Papa John’s pizzas for what was then about $40 in bitcoin.

It would be worth over $1 billion at today’s prices.

​​

While this would be hard to swallow for anyone, Hanyecz has said every time he’s asked that he has no regrets and told Cointelegraph it was “great to be part of the early history of bitcoin.”

“I wanted to do the pizza thing because to me it was free pizza,” Hanyecz told Bitcoin Magazine.  “I mean, I coded this thing and mined bitcoin and I felt like I was winning the internet that day. I got pizza for contributing to an open-source project. Usually hobbies are a time sink and money sink, and in this case, my hobby bought me dinner.”

To celebrate the 15th anniversary, several companies are hosting events and doling out crypto (and pizza) prizes:

Binance Pizza Day

Between May 15 and 28, participants can win pizza boxes “worth up to $20 in BTC” by referring friends to Binance. 

MEXC’s Pizza Day Lucky Wheel

The event runs from May 19 to 28, and participants can win $100,000 in BTC and “Hot Tokens.”

HTX’s Bitcoin Pizza Day Meets Trump Dinner

The crypto exchange partnered with a slew of sponsors for multiple events and prizes totaling $1 million.

BTCC’s 52,000 USDT Bitcoin Pizza Day Challenge and Fifth Annual Global Pizza Party in Monaco

The event runs from May 19 to 31 and rewards users with virtual pizza slices worth 1 USDT each when they complete tasks on the platform.”

Bitget’s Pizza Day’s Pizzas

With Bitget’s celebration, you’ll win… pizzas.  The company will distribute “over 5000 pizzas in over 20 cities worldwide.”

 Happy Pizza Day to all who celebrate.

Binance Pizza Day

Between May 15 and 28, participants can win pizza boxes “worth up to $20 in BTC” by referring friends to Binance. 

MEXC’s Pizza Day Lucky Wheel

The event runs from May 19 to 28, and participants can win $100,000 in BTC and “Hot Tokens.”

HTX’s Bitcoin Pizza Day Meets Trump Dinner

The crypto exchange partnered with a slew of sponsors for multiple events and prizes totaling $1 million.

BTCC’s 52,000 USDT Bitcoin Pizza Day Challenge and Fifth Annual Global Pizza Party in Monaco

The event runs from May 19 to 31 and rewards users with virtual pizza slices worth 1 USDT each when they complete tasks on the platform.”

Bitget’s Pizza Day’s Pizzas

With Bitget’s celebration, you’ll win… pizzas.  The company will distribute “over 5000 pizzas in over 20 cities worldwide.”

 Happy Pizza Day to all who celebrate.

More Crypto

See all Crypto
crypto

Payward, parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, puts plans for IPO on hold

Payward, crypto exchange Kraken’s parent company, has paused its plans for an initial public offering until market conditions improve, according to a report from CoinDesk that cited two people with knowledge of the matter. 

Since the firm announced in November its preparation for an IPO of its common stock, the total market capitalization of the crypto industry has shed around $652.2 billion, from $3.2 trillion to $2.5 trillion as of Wednesday, data from CoinGecko shows. 

The news comes two weeks after Kraken received approval for a master account from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, allowing the crypto exchange to connect to the Fed’s payment infrastructure used by traditional banks and credit unions. 

Last year, Kraken raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation from institutional investors such as Jane Street and Citadel Securities.

The news comes two weeks after Kraken received approval for a master account from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, allowing the crypto exchange to connect to the Fed’s payment infrastructure used by traditional banks and credit unions. 

Last year, Kraken raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation from institutional investors such as Jane Street and Citadel Securities.

crypto

SEC and CFTC issue new guidance on how securities laws apply to crypto assets

On Tuesday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, together with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, issued an interpretation clarifying how federal securities law applies to crypto assets, a first step toward developing a clearer regulatory framework. 

The interpretive guidance introduces a token taxonomy for different types of cryptocurrencies, with SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins adding that “most crypto assets are not themselves securities.”

Examples of a digital commodity, “a crypto asset that is intrinsically linked to and derives its value from the programmatic operation of a crypto system that is ‘functional,’” include:

The guidance also includes definitions of digital collectibles (such as NFTs), stablecoins, digital tools, and digital securities (such as tokenized real-world assets and stocks).

This is a monumental step in the mainstream adoption of the industry and clears a hurdle in how crypto can operate going forward, according to David Pakman, head of venture investments at CoinFund. “This will allow new token designs with the confidence that their existence does not require registration with the SEC, etc.,” Pakman told Sherwood News.

Despite the clarification efforts from the two organizations, the market capitalization of the crypto industry has dropped about 2% in the last 24 hours as each of the tokens mentioned in the guidance are trading lower in the period, data from CoinGecko shows.

The joint agency action also complements congressional efforts to turn a crypto market structure framework into law. With the goal of providing regulations on the offer and sale of digital commodities, the CLARITY Act passed the House of Representatives last year and is now sitting in the Senate.

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, Robinhood Derivatives, LLC, or Robinhood Money, LLC. Futures and event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC.