A purchase when purchasing was the experiment
On May 18, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz offered 10,000 bitcoin on a forum to anyone who would arrange two pizzas; a commenter estimated the tokens at about $41. Four days later Hanyecz confirmed success, with an intermediary using ordinary money to order the food rather than the restaurant accepting bitcoin itself.
Utility before hindsight value
The transaction became widely regarded as the first known purchase of real-world goods with bitcoin. A modern conversion assumes the coins could have been kept securely and continuously through every later price change, so it is a counterfactual—not a loss Hanyecz booked—and it overlooks how spending helped demonstrate the network’s purpose.