10 000 BTC pizza guy was on Satoshi's dev team
A cryptocurrency aficionado known on the X platform as @pete_rizzo_ recently shared a series of posts detailing the interaction between Laszlo Hanyecz – the individual behind the infamous pizza transaction commemorated on Bitcoin Pizza Day – and the enigmatic creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, during the currency's developmental phase.
Hanyecz was far from being just another IT specialist experimenting with Bitcoin for a food purchase. He was an integral part of Satoshi’s initial development squad, making significant contributions to Bitcoin mining.
Hanyecz's Contributions and Conversations with Satoshi
Located in Jacksonville, Florida, Mac developer Laszlo Hanyecz discovered Bitcoin in 2010, a year after its inception. At the time, Bitcoin was exclusively compatible with Windows, prompting Hanyecz to reconfigure the Bitcoin code for MacOS. He achieved this on his iBook G4, effectively bringing Bitcoin to Mac users.
His efforts earned him a spot as one of Satoshi Nakamoto's most reliable collaborators. The thread brought to light a conversation on the BitcoinTalk forum, capturing an exchange between Nakamoto and Hanyecz. They delved into the essence of Bitcoin’s value, the intricacies of its transactions, and discussed visions for Bitcoin’s future infrastructure and scalability.
Despite his respect for Satoshi, Hanyecz was not shy about voicing disagreements, particularly against those skeptical about Bitcoin's capacity to scale. A screenshot in the thread highlighted “Laszlo pushing back against scalability doubters.”
Pioneering GPU Mining
Among the first five developers enhancing Bitcoin alongside Satoshi, Hanyecz was a pioneer in Bitcoin mining, being the first to utilize GPUs for this purpose. Leveraging a powerful gaming rig, he significantly amplified Bitcoin's hash rate. This technological leap enabled him to accumulate 35,000 BTC in just the initial couple of months following mining's inception, quickly amassing a total of 80,000 Bitcoins thereafter.
On May 18, 2010, he famously offered to exchange two large pizzas for Bitcoin, permanently cementing his status in Bitcoin's cultural lore.
