Bitcoin pizza day shows crypto’s global economic evolution today

Laszlo Hanyecz, a programmer, created history on May 22, 2010, when he spent 10,000 Bitcoin on two pizzas. The trade was valued at about $41(market cap under US$1M) at the time. 

According to Binance, the 10,000 Bitcoins would be valued well over $700m (market cap over US$1.5T) now. In August 2025, when BTC price was at an all-time high of $126k, the coins would be worth more than $1 billion. 

The amount now represents over 22 days of current issuance, given today’s block subsidy of approximately 450 BTC per day.

Major price milestones for Bitcoin have been reached amid dwindling new supply. At Pizza Day, roughly 14% of the total BTC supply had been mined. By the time BTC first traded above US$100 in 2013, this had risen to around 53%.  According to Binance, nearly 80% had been mined by US$10K in November 2017, and over 94% by US$100K in December 2024. 

This illustrates how Bitcoin’s issuance schedule is structurally diminishing.  The supply curve flattens with each halving as daily issuance declines from 7,200 BTC per day during the Pizza Day era to 450 BTC presently and 225 BTC following the anticipated April 2028 halving. The remaining mineable Bitcoin represents a diminishing source of fresh supply versus any future growth in demand, since more than 94% of the total supply is currently in circulation. 

Bitcoin Pizza Day shows global Bitcoin purchasing power after 16 years

To mark Bitcoin Pizza Day 2026, Binance used the initial pizza purchase as a lens to analyze the current crypto economy, highlighting how Bitcoin’s purchasing power has grown across major global cities. The comparison highlights how digital assets now interact with real estate, mobility, and daily consumption at scale, from Mumbai and Dubai to New York, London, and Tokyo. 

Binance said that 10,000 BTC in Mumbai could purchase tens of millions of cups of chai and extensive access to commuter rail systems with thousands of years of journeys. The coins could also have major commercial real estate space in the city’s business districts, 

In Dubai, the same sum could buy more than 12 million shawarmas, hundreds of luxury desert adventures, and dozens of ultra-luxury Palm Jumeira Villas.

The 10,000 BTC could purchase approximately 22 million slices of pizza, over 3,000  of Manhattan studio apartments, and enough subway rides to circle the city for generations.

In London, the same sum could purchase over 8 million pints at London pubs, several Premier League hospitality boxes for every match of the season, and purchase entire rows of townhouses in some boroughs.

Binance further said that the coins could buy millions of sushi plates in Tokyo, purchase thousands of high-speed rail journeys across Japan, and could also purchase entire floors in some central Tokyo apartment buildings.

Institutional adoption drives Bitcoin’s shift toward global infrastructure

Beyond the illustrative analogies, the larger message is that Bitcoin has shifted from novelty to infrastructure. Adoption patterns are increasingly influenced by both institutional involvement and grassroots usage in both established and emerging nations as digital assets continue to become integrated into payments, investment, and remittance flows. 

SB Seker, Head of APAC at Binance, emphasized this evolution, noting, “Bitcoin Pizza Day has become one of crypto’s most celebrated traditions because it captures something essential: innovation happens when someone is willing to try something new, even if it seems impractical at the time. In 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz used Bitcoin to buy pizza because he believed digital currency should have use cases, not just sit in a wallet. Today, we are seeing that vision materialize at scale. Stablecoins are processing trillions in monthly volume, and users in markets like India are discovering crypto’s practical applications-from everyday transactions to wealth creation and preservation. Bitcoin Pizza Day celebrates the moment crypto moved from theory to practice, and reminds us that the real work is making that utility accessible to everyone.” 

Binance said that institutions hold about 3.88 million BTC, or 18.5% of the 21 million hard cap. Strategy alone accounts for ~844K BTC, or 4% of total BTC, while public corporations narrowly lead all categories at ~1.24M BTC (5.9%). ETFs trail closely behind with ~1.32M BTC (6.3%), with BlackRock’s IBIT leading at ~811K BTC. An additional ~650K BTC (3.1%) is held by governments.  

The crypto exchange explained that, excluding DeFi and other protocol holdings, pure institutional ownership is approximately 3.5 million BTC, or about one in six BTC. The adoption route is evolving. This is the first cycle in which the marginal buyer is an institution rather than a retailer. Approximately 1.24 million BTC (~US$95.7 billion NAV, ~5.9% of the circulating supply) are now held by 197 listed corporations. In the last 12 months alone, about half of that corporate accumulation occurred.