The Bitcoin community complained to Coinbase’s decision to mark BTC Pizza Day by providing pizzas only for USDC instead of BTC, therefore compromising their choice. The move generated discussion among renowned BTC enthusiasts.
Starting the Coinbase Pizza Truck in New York and serving pizza slices for $1, Coinbase announced their celebration on May 22. The oddity was that the only payment accepted was USDC, a stablecoin developed by long-time Circle partner Coinbase. This decision outraged the BTC community since the event was expected to signal the first known commercial transaction with Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Community Reaction to Coinbase’s USDC-Only Pizza Celebration
Although Coinbase could have meant to draw attention to the transparency and speed of stablecoin transfers, many argued that excluding BTC from the celebration was unacceptable. While there was criticism, neither Coinbase nor its developer Brian Armstrong publicly responded at the time of publishing.
Former TechCrunch writer Jacquelyn Melinek attempted to justify Coinbase’s choice by suggesting that USDC may save corporate transaction expenses. Critics countered that Coinbase might have also paid Bitcoin using the layer-2 alternative recognized for lower transaction fees, the Lightning Network.
Bitcoin Pizza Day celebrates the historic 2010 transaction when programmer Laszlo Hanyecz famously paid 10,000 BTC (today value of around $700 million) for two pizzas. Representing its march towards general adoption as a kind of money, this event was among the first real uses of BTC.
