On May 22, 2010, Hanyecz asked a fellow enthusiast on a bitcoin forum to accept 10,000 bitcoin for two Papa John's Pizzas. At the time, Hanyecz believed that the coins he had "mined" on his computer were worth around 0.003 cents each. 
 
 Bitcoin mining involves solving a complex mathematical solution with the miner being rewarded in bitcoin. This is how Hanyecz got his initial coins. 
 
 The cryptocurrency has many doubters as it continues to be associated with criminal activity, but it has still seen a stunning rally. Here are two facts, on Bitcoin Pizza Day, however, that highlight this: 
 
 While being worth $30 at the time, Hanyecz pizzas would now cost $22.5 million at current bitcoin prices. 
 
 If you bought $100 of bitcoin at the 0.003 cent price on May 22, 2010, you'd now be sitting on around $75 million. 
 
 A number of factors have been driving the rally: 
 
 Recently passed legislation in Japan that allows retailers to start accepting bitcoin as a legal currency has boosted trading in yen, which now accounts for over 40 percent of all bitcoin trade 
 
 Political uncertainty globally has driven demand for bitcoin as a safe haven asset 
 
 A debate within the bitcoin community about the future of the underlying technology behind bitcoin known as the blockchain has been taking place. There was fear at one point this could lead to the creation of two separate cryptocurrencies but those worries have largely subsided with an alternative, more palatable option now being put forward. 
 
 For an in-depth look at the factors driving bitcoin, click here. ||||| Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Bitcoin's value has fluctuated sharply over the last four years 
 
 The value of Bitcoin has hit a new high with each individual coin now worth more than $2,100 (£1,615). 
 
 The valuation caps a strong month for the virtual currency, with its value growing by more than 65% in a month. 
 
 The steady rise in value is believed to be linked to policy changes in Japan and China that have made it easier for speculators to trade in bitcoins. 
 
 Many other virtual currencies have also enjoyed a sustained rise in value over the last few weeks. 
 
 Bitcoin first broke the $1,000 (£768) barrier in November 2013 but its value has fluctuated wildly since then. For instance, in early 2014 one bitcoin was worth only $280 (£215). 
 
 And at the end of 2016, each one was changing hands for about $900 (£690). 
 
 Unsustainable bubble 
 
 Bitcoin emerged in 2008 and is a digital currency based around cryptography. Individual coins can be split into smaller denominations and many people involved with the currency use computers to verify the globally-held log, known as the blockchain, of who spent what where. 
 
 Verifying transactions involves solving a complicated mathematical problem and the first person to do so gets rewarded with bitcoins. 
 
 Rising interest in bitcoin has sparked the creation of many other crypto-currencies. These have proved popular as the technology underlying bitcoin has struggled to cope with its popularity and growth. One estimate suggests bitcoins now make up only 47% of all traded crypto-currencies. 
 
 Rivals such as Ethereum and Ripple have been gaining value far faster than bitcoin over the last few months. 
 
 The surging valuations has led some commentators to suggest that an unsustainable crypto-currency bubble is developing. 
 
 "The question is not if but when the market will turn," said an editorial in The Economist. ||||| John Schnatter, the founder of Papa John's, at the 2011 American Music Awards in Los Angeles. Thomson Reuters 
 
 Happy Bitcoin Pizza Day! 
 
 On May 22, crypto enthusiasts around the world celebrate the anniversary of one of the earliest bitcoin purchases: two Papa John's pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins. 
 
 Laszlo Hanyecz, a programmer, purchased the two pizzas in 2010 from another person in Jacksonville, Florida, according to The New York Times. In an interview with the newspaper in 2013, Hanyecz didn't sound too broken up about the deal. 
 
 "It wasn't like bitcoins had any value back then, so the idea of trading them for a pizza was incredibly cool," Hanyecz said. 
 
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 Still, those coins would be worth $82 million at bitcoin's Tuesday price of $8,200 a coin, according to Markets Insider data. There's a Twitter account that provides a daily update on how much the pizzas would have cost based on the latest price of bitcoin. 
 
 Twitter/@bitcoin_pizza 
 
 For its part, CoinDesk released a 'Bitcoin Pizza Day' Price Tracker on Tuesday. 
 
 eToro sent Business Insider UK a pizza to celebrate the day. Here's a tweet from finance reporter Oscar Williams-Grut: 
 
 Bitcoin gained worldwide attention at the end of last year as it soared close to $20,000 a coin and infiltrated trading and investment firms across Wall Street. But its origins trace back to 2008 and an anonymous creator known as Satoshi Nakamoto, whose vision was to create a rival financial system based on a technology called blockchain. 
 
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 Still, many merchants are wary of accepting bitcoin because of its spine-tingling volatility. Last year, Morgan Stanley described the lack of places to buy goods with bitcoin. 
 
 "The disparity between virtually no merchant acceptance and bitcoin's rapid appreciation is striking," the analysts wrote. 
 
 That hasn't kept Wall Street away. Several top trading firms are active in crypto markets, including DRW and Virtu Financial. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs is preparing to launch a bitcoin-trading operation, and Morgan Stanley has been looking to beef up its equity-research unit with crypto experts.
– Monday was Bitcoin Pizza Day, the anniversary of the day in 2010 when developer Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 bitcoins for two pizzas in the online currency's first recognized transaction. The same amount of bitcoins would be worth around $22.5 million now. The currency, which sank to $443 a year ago, is up more than 65% so far this month and has been soaring to record highs, passing $2,000 for the first time over the weekend and breaking through the $2,100 and $2,200 marks on Monday, reports CNBC, which notes that a $100 investment in bitcoins exactly seven years ago would be worth more than $75 million at the $2,251 price it reached Monday. Analysts say several factors are behind the steep rise in the price of the currency, including political uncertainty worldwide and the ironing out of technical issues. Japan has also given bitcoins a big boost with new legislation allowing retailers to accept the currency. "The Japanese have caught the bitcoin bug and inefficiencies across markets are being exposed," CryptoCompare founder Charles Hayter tells Business Insider. But other "crypto-currencies," including Ethereum and Ripple, have been rising even faster than bitcoin, leading analysts to warn that a bubble appears to be developing, the BBC reports.