Moving Beyond HODL: ZOOMEX Launches Global "Pizza Week" Campaign Honoring Bitcoin’s First Real-World Trade

VICTORIA, Seychelles, May 21, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On the cusp of the global 16th anniversary of Bitcoin Pizza Day, ZOOMEX, a leading global digital asset exchange, today officially announced the launch of its Pizza Week campaign. This initiative honors the historic milestone of Bitcoin's first real-world transaction. ZOOMEX’s campaign directly targets the original vision of cryptocurrency. By showcasing its core product matrix—including ZoomCard, ZoomexStocks, and the 0-Cost Trading Competition — the platform aims to drive a comprehensive ecosystem transition for digital assets, shifting them from speculative tools to practical, everyday applications.

On May 22, 2010, a Florida programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz posted a message on the BitcoinTalk forum offering 10,000 Bitcoins for two large pizzas. A British forum user accepted, and the transaction was completed. At the time, those 10,000 BTC were worth roughly $41. At Bitcoin's all-time high in May 2025, they would have been worth over $1.1 billion.

But the dollar value is not the story ZOOMEX is telling this week.

"The industry has spent sixteen years fixating on what that pizza would be worth today, and in doing so, it walked straight past the more interesting question," said Fernando Lillo, Marketing Director at ZOOMEX. "Laszlo wasn't making a trade. He was running a test. And the result of that test wasn't a loss — it was proof that the entire idea could work. A technology that cannot interact with daily life remains a technology, not a currency. That distinction is what Pizza Week is about."

That question has been answered repeatedly over the past 16 years. MicroStrategy, the world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder, now holds 818,869 BTC — nearly 4% of all Bitcoin that will ever exist — acquired at a total cost of over $68 billion. The U.S. government maintains a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Sovereign wealth funds have disclosed exposure. Global crypto market capitalization stands between $2.5 trillion and $2.7 trillion, with Bitcoin representing roughly 60%. What began as a pizza order has become an asset class that governments can no longer ignore.

ZOOMEX argues that the industry has, in some ways, drifted from Laszlo's original intent. The dominant message for years has been to hold and accumulate — to never repeat the "mistake" of spending Bitcoin. That is now changing. Monthly transaction volumes for crypto payment cards grew from approximately $100 million in early 2023 to over $1.5 billion by late 2025, posting another 211% year-over-year increase as of March 2026. A quarter of U.S. Adults now use crypto for everyday transactions, payments, and financial management.

ZOOMEX has built a comprehensive product ecosystem to address the modern era's need for utility:

• Arena 0-Cost Trading Competition: Now open with a 600,000 prize pool. Arena provides every participant with $100–$200 in platform-funded trial capital. Zero entry cost. Same starting line. Results determined by trading volume and ROI — not by who brought the deepest pockets.
• ZoomexStocks: U.S. stock-linked assets — including Apple, Tesla, and Nvidia — accessible directly from a crypto account. No fiat conversion required. No separate brokerage account needed. The same idea as Laszlo's pizza, evolved for 2026: crypto as a gateway, not a walled garden.
• ZoomCard: A multi-currency virtual Mastercard built in partnership with licensed financial institution UR. Supports USD, EUR, CHF, SGD, HKD, and JPY. Zero card issuance fees. Zero annual fees. Compatible with Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. Crypto that leaves the chart and enters the checkout line.
  
  

The Pizza Week campaign will run across ZOOMEX's global social media channels and include a dedicated space panel. To drive ecosystem adoption, ZOOMEX is launching a dedicated community reward pool featuring thousands of dollars in USDT incentives alongside exclusive trading coupons for all participants. The company is also producing localized content with teams in Spain and a ZoomCard promotional video demonstrating real-world crypto payments.

Still missing out? Join Zoomex Now https://i.zoomex.com/2ab20b9O

About Zoomex

Founded in 2021, Zoomex is a global cryptocurrency trading platform with over 3 million users across more than 35 countries and regions, offering 600+ trading pairs. Guided by its core values of “Simple × User-Friendly × Fast,” Zoomex is also committed to the principles of fairness, integrity, and transparency, delivering a high-performance, low-barrier, and trustworthy trading experience.

Powered by a high-performance matching engine and transparent asset and order displays, Zoomex ensures consistent trade execution and fully traceable results. This approach reduces information asymmetry and allows users to clearly understand their asset status and every trading outcome. While prioritizing speed and efficiency, the platform continues to optimize product structure and overall user experience with robust risk management in place.

As an official partner of the Haas F1 Team, Zoomex brings the same focus on speed, precision, and reliable rule execution from the racetrack to trading. In addition, Zoomex has established a global exclusive brand ambassador partnership with world-class goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez. His professionalism, discipline, and consistency further reinforce Zoomex’s commitment to fair trading and long-term user trust.

In terms of security and compliance, Zoomex holds regulatory licenses including Canada MSB, U.S. MSB, U.S. NFA, and Australia AUSTRAC, and has successfully passed security audits conducted by blockchain security firm Hacken. Operating within a compliant framework while offering flexible identity verification options and an open trading system.

Zoomex is building a trading environment that is simpler, more transparent, more secure, and more accessible for users worldwide.

For more info: Website | X | Telegram | Discord

Contact:
Catherine Shi
catherine.shi@zoomex.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9f02a78a-c938-4da0-89bb-f56aaf9f1cb0