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The meme museum

HODL, laser eyes, “have fun staying poor” and Pizza Day: where bitcoin's best-known jokes came from, who started them, and what they mean.

About the exhibits. Memes belong to the people who made them. We don't copy anyone's images: each exhibit is recreated as text and links to the original post, with its creator credited. Each plaque says how sure we are about the origin, because internet history is messy and some first uses can't be proven.

Exhibit 01 ·

Bitcoin Pizza Day

Laszlo Hanyecz · BitcoinTalk forum

On May 18, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz offered on the BitcoinTalk forum: “I'll pay 10,000 bitcoins for a couple of pizzas.. like maybe 2 large ones so I have some left over for the next day.” A reply that day noted 10,000 BTC could be sold for about $41 at the time. On May 22 he reported in the same thread that the trade had happened.

What it means: Every May 22, bitcoiners celebrate the first well-known purchase of real goods with bitcoin, and wince at what 10,000 BTC would be worth today.

Rights:
Public forum post. We quote one sentence and link the original; no images used.
Bitcoin culture →

Exhibit 02 ·

Magic Internet Money

Reddit user u/mavensbot · r/Bitcoin

When r/Bitcoin's moderator asked for ideas for a Reddit ad, u/mavensbot posted an MS Paint drawing of a bearded wizard with the caption “Bitcoin: Magic Internet Money.” It went on to become one of the most famous ads Reddit ever ran.

What it means: A tongue-in-cheek way to describe bitcoin that skips every technical detail. Bitcoiners use it with affection; critics use it with an eye-roll.

Rights:
The wizard drawing belongs to its creator; reuse terms are unclear, so we don't show it. Text recreation only.

Exhibit 03 ·

HODL

BitcoinTalk user GameKyuubi · BitcoinTalk forum

During a sharp price drop, GameKyuubi posted a thread titled “I AM HODLING” at 10:03 AM (UTC) on Dec 18, 2013. He admitted he had typed the title twice and it was still wrong, then explained why he wasn't selling: “It's because I'm a bad trader and I KNOW I'M A BAD TRADER.”

What it means: Hold through the ups and downs instead of trying to time the market. Later backronymed as “Hold On for Dear Life,” but it started as a typo.

Rights:
Public forum post. We quote only the title and link the original.
Glossary →

Exhibit 04 · Nov 2014

This is gentlemen

An anonymous Redditor · r/BitcoinMarkets, then r/Bitcoin

During a November 2014 price jump, a commenter in an r/BitcoinMarkets daily thread meant to type “This is it, gentlemen” and dropped a word. The next day an r/Bitcoin post titled “This Is Gentlemen” turned the typo into an in-joke.

What it means: Shorthand for “this is the big moment,” used whenever the price breaks out or a milestone arrives.

Rights:
Short phrase, text recreation only. Reddit blocked our automated check, so the thread link is confirmed through the sources listed.

Exhibit 05 · 2010 onward

“Bitcoin is dead”

Critics, tallied by 99Bitcoins · News sites, blogs and social media

Since a December 2010 blog post, critics have declared bitcoin dead, doomed or worthless hundreds of times. 99Bitcoins keeps the running list, and its counter read 477 when we checked.

What it means: Every crash brings a new wave of obituaries, and the network keeps producing blocks. Bitcoiners share each new one as a badge of honor.

Rights:
Facts and headlines only; we link each original article.
Bitcoin is dead: the full chart →

Exhibit 06 · around 2017

Number go up

Origin unclear · Forums and Bitcoin Twitter

Nobody can say for sure who said it first. One account traces it to a sarcastic October 2017 post by a bitcoin skeptic on the SomethingAwful forums, and bitcoiners later adopted it with a wink.

What it means: A deliberately caveman summary of bitcoin's fixed supply meeting rising demand. Jameson Lopp notes that price headlines are often what first gets people curious enough to learn the fundamentals.

Rights:
Four-word phrase, text recreation only. Origin unverified.

Exhibit 07 · 2010s

Not your keys, not your coins

Popularized by Andreas M. Antonopoulos and others · Talks, videos and Bitcoin Twitter

An extension of “don't trust, verify”: if a company holds the private keys, you hold an IOU, not bitcoin. Antonopoulos repeated it in talks and Q&As for years, including a 2019 video with the phrase as its title. Exchange collapses keep proving the point.

What it means: The core idea of self-custody.

Rights:
Short phrase, text recreation only. We could not confirm who said it first.
Self-custody guides →

Exhibit 08 · around 2019

Stay humble, stack sats

Credited to Matt Odell · Bitcoin Twitter and podcasts

Bitcoin Magazine credits podcaster and investor Matt Odell with the phrase. Jameson Lopp notes it echoes precious-metals buyers who “stack” coins and bars.

What it means: Keep buying small amounts of bitcoin (sats are hundred-millionths of a bitcoin) and skip the ego, the leverage and the arguments.

Rights:
Short phrase, text recreation only.
Sats converter →

Exhibit 09 ·

Have fun staying poor

Popularized by Udi Wertheimer · Twitter (now X)

In September 2020 developer Udi Wertheimer started replying “have fun staying poor” to people, at first mostly in DeFi debates. He later joked he had taken the older, ruder “stay poor” and made it “inclusive.” Over time it became a retort aimed at bitcoin skeptics.

What it means: A smug closing line in an argument. Honestly, it's a terrible way to welcome anyone to bitcoin; we include it because you will see it everywhere. Even Peter Schiff has turned it around as “have fun going broke.”

Rights:
Short phrase, text recreation only; we link the original post rather than embedding it.
Schiff's “have fun going broke” →

Exhibit 10 ·

Laser eyes

@CHAIRFORCE_BTC and friends · Twitter (now X)

With bitcoin near $50,000, a small group of meme-makers added glowing red laser eyes to their profile pictures and launched #LaserRayUntil100K, promising to keep them until bitcoin hit $100,000. Within days, politicians, CEOs and celebrities had joined in, and El Salvador's president later wore them too.

What it means: A show of conviction. The original goal: bitcoin first closed a day above $100,000 on Dec 8, 2024 (Coin Metrics daily close).

Rights:
Avatar images belong to their owners and aren't shown. Text recreation only.
El Salvador →

Exhibit 11 · 2010s

1 BTC = 1 BTC

Bitcoin community; Jameson Lopp explains it · Bitcoin Twitter

A tautology bitcoiners repeat when the dollar price swings. Jameson Lopp put it this way in 2019: your share of a supply capped at just under 21 million doesn't change when the exchange rate does.

What it means: Measure in bitcoin, not dollars, and the daily swings stop mattering so much.

Rights:
Short phrase, text recreation only.
The supply cap →

More in this series: Bitcoin's greatest hot takes · Bitcoin is dead (again) · Bitcoin culture

Sources

Exhibits checked Oct 17, 2026. Made a meme on this list and want it credited differently? Let us know and we'll fix it.