Opinion – Cryptocurrencies Still Don’t Challenge National Ones

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have now been hailed as the future of payments, and a replacement for national currencies, for a decade. The first purchase using a cryptocurrency occurred in May 2010 when a Bitcoin enthusiast in Florida named Laszlo offered 10,000 bitcoins for anybody who would order two pizzas to be delivered to him. At the time this was worth around US$ 30. He had to wait several days for anyone to take up the offer. If Jercos, who ordered the pizza for him, held onto the bitcoins he earned from this transaction until the bitcoin price hit its peak of almost US$ 20,000 in December 2017 he would have been able to exchange them for around US$200 million. In this sense they were the most expensive pizzas in history.