15-year price curve: We will eventually become a part of history

Currently, the price of Bitcoin has exceeded US$110,000, setting a record high. May 22 coincides with the annual "Pizza Festival". This anniversary, spontaneously formed by the cryptocurrency community, once again brings people's eyes back to the moment when rewriting history 15 years ago - the pizza worth $1.1 billion.

1. The starting point of a value enlightenment

The Bitcoin network in 2010 was still in the "primitive society" stage, with the computing power of the entire network less than one trillionth of today. Exchanges have not yet been born, and most of the holders are geeks and technology enthusiasts. When Razlo posted on the forum to propose "for pizza with Bitcoin", the "value anchorage" of cryptocurrencies was still blank.

On May 22, 2010, American programmer Laszlo Hanyecz bought two Papa John's pizza with 10,000 bitcoins, marking the first time Bitcoin has been used as a payment method in the real world. At that time, the 10,000 bitcoins were worth about $41, and the average bitcoin was only worth $0.0041 per bitcoin.

Today, 15 years later, at the price of Bitcoin exceeding $100,000, the value of those two pizzas has reached an astonishing $1 billion. This figure not only became a milestone in Bitcoin’s early development, but also revealed the epic leap of cryptocurrencies from edge experiments to global assets.

2. Bitcoin price curve over the past 15 years

From $0.0041 to $110,000 15 years later, by sorting out the Bitcoin price data on May 22 of the previous year, according to bitsCrunch.com data, the key cycles and driving logic in its development trajectory can be clearly captured. The following figure shows the price performance of Bitcoin during the Pizza Festival in previous years.

Data source:bitsCrunch.com

• Technology Improvement Period (2010-2013): From proof of concept to initial application, Bitcoin proves the feasibility of decentralized currencies.

In May 2011, the price of Bitcoin climbed to $6.8, and the emergence of the dark web "Silk Road" demonstrated its anonymous payment potential for the first time; in May 2013, the price exceeded $122, and during the same period, the Cyprus debt crisis pushed Bitcoin as a "safe-haven asset" into the mainstream vision, with an annual increase of 5,400%.

• Speculation Mania Period (2014-2017): The violent price fluctuations have attracted global attention, but also exposed the immaturity of the market.

The stolen Mt.Gox exchange in 2014 caused the price to be cut from $525 to $240 (in 2015), and the market experienced the first large-scale risk education. Since then, technological breakthroughs such as Ethereum smart contracts and Lightning Network have promoted the expansion of the ecosystem. In May 2017, the price rebounded to US$2,100, and in December of the same year, it soared to US$19,783 due to the ICO fanaticism, completing the first "super cycle".

• Institutional Cognitive Period (2018-2021): Traditional financial institutions have begun to take Bitcoin seriously and regard it as part of digital asset allocation.

In the 2018 bear market, many people left the market directly, but the entry of institutions such as Grayscale Trust and MicroStrategy laid the foundation for long-term buying. In May 2021, the price hit US$37,500, and Tesla, El Salvador and other countries included Bitcoin in the balance sheet; in 2024, the US Bitcoin spot ETF was approved and the fourth halving was implemented resonated with the pressure of global fiat currency inflation, pushing the price to exceed US$71,400, with an annualized yield of 217%.

The following figure shows the monthly performance of Bitcoin from 2017 to 2024 each year.

Data source:bitsCrunch.com

• Mainstream acceptance period (2022-2025): The regulatory framework is gradually improved, ETFs are approved, and Bitcoin officially enters the traditional investment portfolio.

With the advancement of global central bank digital currency, the maturity of the Web3 ecosystem, and the in-depth application of blockchain technology in various industries, digital currency is reshaping our economic system. As a pioneer of this revolution, Bitcoin’s value is not only reflected in its price, but also in the decentralized concept and technological innovation spirit it represents.

3. Structural transformation behind the historical highs

Today, Bitcoin’s market value has exceeded US$2.1 trillion, surpassing Amazon and becoming the fifth largest asset in the world. The essential evolution of its value support logic: first, it is the strengthening of macro hedging attributes , second, the implementation of the US-European crypto market supervision bill, third, compliance channels such as Coinbase and BlackRock have opened up traditional funding entrances.

Lazlo's 10,000 Bitcoins were once ridiculed as "stupid transactions", but if you look back from today's perspective, this transaction just confirms the essence of the Austrian school's "subjective value theory" - value does not originate from entities, but a mapping of group consensus. In 14 years, Bitcoin has evolved from a code experiment on the Geek Forum to a "free currency" believed by hundreds of millions of people. Its price fluctuation curve is actually the evolutionary history of human cognition of decentralized finance.

4. Conclusion: Consensus creates value

On social media, the #PizzaDay topic becomes a hot topic every year, with people sharing their pizza photos, recalling the development of Bitcoin, and looking forward to the future of digital currency. This tradition has gone beyond simple commemorations and has become a symbol of cohesion throughout the cryptocurrency community.

Looking back at the historical high of $110,000, Pizza Festival has long surpassed its memorial significance and became a cultural totem of the crypto-spirited spirit: it reminds us that the power of technological innovation and institutional reconstruction often begins with the tiniest practice. Just as Satoshi Nakamoto’s title of Times embedded in the Genesis block, “The Chancellor of the Finance Minister is on the verge of the second round of bank bailouts” – Bitcoin’s ultimate mission may be to bring the ideal of freedom behind those two pizzas 14 years ago into reality.

And we will eventually become participants, witnesses and practitioners in the history of digital currency. **
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