Top 10 Most Expensive Purchases Made With Crypto
From million-dollar mansions to literal tickets to space, crypto has become the ultimate status flex for anyone looking to brag about their latest big buy.
Sure, we all laugh about the guy who dropped 10,000 BTC on pizza, but the wild part is that’s pocket change compared to what came next. Since then, crypto whales have been making waves big enough to flood Wall Street, while the rest of us gawk from the shore, popcorn in hand.
So, sit back and scroll through our list of the top 10 most expensive purchases ever made with crypto. Don’t worry, window shopping is still free.
Condo in Trump Tower for $21 Million Worth of Ether
Anthony Di Iorio, one of Ethereum’s original architects, shelled out roughly $21 million worth of Ether for a three-story penthouse in Toronto’s former Trump Tower, now rebranded as the St. Regis Residences.
Spanning over 16,000 square feet and crowned with a 100-foot ceiling, it’s a sky palace with wrap-around patios and sweeping views. Plans for the playground in the sky include a private event hub with projection-mapped walls and a glass elevator, plus his signature Aston Martins (mini and full-sized).
Mr. Di Iorio, are you, uh…free this weekend?
101.38 Carat Diamond for $12.3 Million Worth of BTC
In 2021, Sotheby’s Hong Kong made history when a 101.38-carat diamond, appropriately named The Key 10138, sold for $12.3 million worth of crypto. It was the most expensive jewelry purchase ever made with cryptocurrency.
The diamond, a D-color and flawless pear-shaped stone, is one of only ten 100-carat-plus diamonds ever to be auctioned. It’s so pure it qualifies as a Type IIa gem. For us laymen, that means it’s the gold standard of diamonds, except whiter and shinier. Whether the buyer paid in Bitcoin or Ether remains a mystery, but one thing’s certain: this was no ordinary bling.
Pizzas for 10,000 BTC
We should point out that at the time, May 2010, 10,000 Bitcoins only equated to about $41. But still, that small digital experiment became one of the most legendary transactions in history.
Florida-based developer Laszlo Hanyecz offered 10,000 BTC on a Bitcoin forum for anyone willing to order him two Papa John’s pizzas. A fellow crypto enthusiast took the deal, and just like that, the first real-world purchase with Bitcoin was made.
Those two pizzas, loaded with onions, peppers, sausage, and pepperoni (no weird fish toppings, per Hanyecz’s request, and we hear that), would later be worth over $1.1 billion as Bitcoin’s price skyrocketed. Hunger fades, but the pain of wishing you’d held lingers longer than cold pizza.
Plot of land in California for 2,739 BTC
Back in 2014, long before crypto mortgages were even a concept, a mystery Silicon Valley entrepreneur pulled off one of the first major Bitcoin real estate deals. They bought a 1.4-acre plot in North Lake Tahoe, California, for 2,739 BTC.
At the time, Bitcoin was worth around $580 a coin, making the total roughly $1.6 million. Today, that same pile of BTC would be worth hundreds of millions. Quick, someone grab a Martis Camp brochure and see if they’ll accept retroactive payments.
Toyota Prius for 1,000 BTC
In 2013, Michael Tozoni used 1,000 BTC to buy a used Toyota Prius in Florida. At the time, Bitcoin was trading for around $22, making the Prius worth roughly $22,000. Not bad for a thrifty hybrid, except that same 1,000 BTC would later be worth over $48 million. Yes, forty-eight. Million. Dollars. That’s one reason why you should invest in crypto.
Tozoni said he didn’t regret it, calling it a “great deal at the time.” He’d bought his Bitcoin just three months earlier, when it was $10 a coin, so he technically made money on the trade…if you stop doing math in 2013.
Miami Mansion for 455 BTC
What would you do with a 7-bedroom, 9,452-square-foot mansion in Miami? Finally build that trampoline room you’ve dreamed of? Or sell it for 455 BTC, aka $6 million? Michael Komaransky opted for the latter.
The property, complete with a pool, chef’s kitchen, and rooftop terrace (no mention of a trampoline room, sadly), became the most expensive Bitcoin-to-Bitcoin real estate sale in the U.S. The buyer, an early Bitcoin investor, made payments in installments, completing the purchase entirely in Bitcoin with no conversion to U.S. dollars.
Deals like this show how far crypto has come. But if you’re holding onto your coins instead of buying mansions, make sure you’re safely storing your crypto.
Tickets to Space for 312 BTC
You often hear about crypto going “to the moon” in investment talk, but few take it literally. That is, until twin entrepreneurs and crypto influencers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss uttered the phrase.
Each bought a Virgin Galactic space ticket for about 312 BTC, worth roughly $250,000 at the time. With Bitcoin trading near $800 per coin, it was a fitting move for the billionaire brothers who saw parallels between space exploration and cryptocurrency innovation.
Tyler later admitted it might not have been his sharpest financial decision, joking, “I won’t make that mistake again.” At today’s rates, those 312 BTC would be worth several million dollars.
Lamborghini Gallardo for 216 BTC
The phrase “When Lambo?” didn’t come out of nowhere. It came from this exact story. Back in 2013, one daring crypto enthusiast dropped 216 BTC to buy a Lamborghini Gallardo from Lamborghini Newport Beach, the first dealership to ever accept Bitcoin. At the time, Bitcoin was worth about $1,000, so the car cost roughly $210,000, a fair trade for anyone chasing the ultimate crypto-status symbol.
From that day on, the infamous “Bitcoin Lambo” meme lived on as a rallying cry for every hodler waiting to cash out big – and yeah, we’re still waiting, too.
Tesla Model S for 91.4 BTC
Before crypto bought mansions and million-dollar diamonds, it bought a Tesla Model S.
In 2013, a buyer at Lamborghini Newport Beach handed over 91.4 BTC for a sleek, all-electric Model S Performance, valued at approximately $103,000 at the time, when Bitcoin hovered near $1,126. The dealership cheekily noted, “An electronic currency was used to purchase a fully electric vehicle,” which aged like fine irony.
It’s poetic, really: an early adopter using a futuristic currency to buy a futuristic car, only for both to skyrocket later, just not in the same garage.
That buyer traded their Bitcoin for horsepower, and you can keep yours spinning, too. At Cafe Casino, deposit with crypto and use your Bitcoin for the chance to let it pay you back with slot jackpots. After all, why park your BTC in a driveway when you can put it to work at the tables at a Bitcoin casino?
Banksy Artwork for 3,093 ETH
Banksy has never played by the rules. He shredded a painting after it sold for $1.4 million, after all. So it only makes sense that the art world’s most notorious contrarian was front and center when Sotheby’s made history with its first-ever cryptocurrency-denominated sale. Two of his works, “Trolley Hunters” and “Love Is in the Air,” sold for a combined 3,093 ETH, over $12 million, during the 2021 auction.
The sale marked a first for Sotheby’s, which let bidders pay in Ether, the same cryptocurrency that fuels the Ethereum blockchain. Sotheby’s even launched a virtual gallery, “Sotheby’s Metaverse,” to celebrate the event.
Looking back, it’s wild to think pizzas, cars, and condos were once bought with what’s now worth millions or even billions. Sure, there’s a little “should’ve held” regret in every story, but mostly, it’s awe. These purchases mark the moments when crypto stepped out of the internet and into the real world. Each one shows just how far digital money has come, from a curiosity on message boards to a currency that can literally buy the moon.