Steak ‘n Shake Flips the Script: Nationwide Bitcoin Payments Coming to All US Locations
Burgers, fries, and now crypto—America’s beloved fast-food chain Steak ‘n Shake is serving up a side of financial disruption. The company just announced it’ll accept Bitcoin payments at every one of its US locations, bypassing traditional payment rails.
Why it matters: This isn’t just another gimmick. It’s a mainstream validation of crypto’s utility—even Wall Street skeptics can’t ignore a 90-year-old chain betting big on digital assets. (Though they’ll probably call it a ’speculative burger bubble’ anyway.)
The bottom line: When your milkshake brings crypto boys to the yard, you know adoption is real. Time to HODL those extra sats for dessert.
Jack Dorsey Backs Steak ‘n Shake’s Bitcoin Move With Enthusiastic “Yes”
The tweet quickly gained traction in the crypto community, receiving an enthusiastic “yes” from notable bitcoin advocate and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey.
Since then, the chain has ramped up its Bitcoin-themed marketing, teasing the rollout with Tesla giveaways and cryptic social media content aimed at building hype.
With this nationwide rollout, Steak ‘n Shake becomes one of the few restaurant chains in the U.S. to move from crypto trial phases to full-scale adoption.
The company says the option will be available to more than 100 million customers nationwide.
Steak ‘n Shake now joins a growing list of fast food brands dipping into digital assets. Chipotle began accepting around 100 cryptocurrencies through Flexa in 2022, including Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana.
Subway has explored crypto payments since 2013, and McDonald’s accepts Bitcoin in Lugano, Switzerland.
Even KFC and Burger King have trialed crypto initiatives in various markets, while Pizza Hut accepts BTC in El Salvador, where it is legal tender.
Steak n Shake accepting Bitcoin payments at all locations starting May 16, making the cryptocurrency available to our more than 100 million customers. The movement is just beginning….
—Steaktoshi pic.twitter.com/1SGMifDZep
The relationship between Bitcoin and fast food stretches back to its earliest days.
The first documented use of Bitcoin was in 2010 when Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 BTC for two pizzas—an event that WOULD later be immortalized as “Bitcoin Pizza Day.”
Today, Steak ‘n Shake is carrying that legacy forward with a modern twist.
Payments Companies Push into Crypto
Last month, crypto payments platform Mesh unveiled its Apple Pay integration, which allows merchants partnered with Mesh to accept crypto payments via Apple Pay.
Mesh’s partnership with Apple Pay came as payments companies continue to expand into digital assets.
More recently, global payments giant Stripe said it is developing a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin aimed at companies operating outside the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe.
The announcement came after Stripe’s regulatory approval to acquire Bridge, a stablecoin payments network designed to rival traditional banking systems and SWIFT-based transfers.
Last month, Jack Dorsey, former Twitter CEO and outspoken Bitcoin advocate, publicly urged Signal Messenger to integrate Bitcoin for peer-to-peer (P2P) payments.
Dorsey’s call was echoed by David Marcus, former president of PayPal and current CEO of Lightspark, who stated that “all non-transactional apps should connect to Bitcoin.”
In April, Singapore-based payments company Triple-A announced plans to integrate PayPal’s stablecoin into its list of supported tokens for customer payments.
Even companies like PayPal have entered the space, launching their own stablecoins and offering yield incentives to holders.
