Steak ‘N Shake to Roll Out US Bitcoin Payments Nationwide
By: decrypt|2025/05/09 12:45:01
0
Share
Steak ‘N Shake to Roll Out US Bitcoin Payments Nationwide Steak ‘n Shake hinted at Bitcoin support in March, signaling early interest in crypto adoption before making its full-scale move public. In brief Steak ‘n Shake will accept Bitcoin nationwide starting May 16. The rollout gives over 100 million customers a crypto payment option. Few chains have gone beyond pilots, marking the development as a rare full-scale adoption. Decrypt’s Art, Fashion, and Entertainment Hub. Bitcoin is coming to the drive-thru. American fast food chain Steak ‘n Shake said Thursday it will begin accepting the world’s largest crypto at all of its U.S. locations starting May 16, giving its more than 100 million customers the option to pay for milkshakes and burgers in BTC. “The movement is just beginning,” the company posted on X. Unlike high-margin retailers, fast food chains run on thin margins and high volume, making Steak ‘n Shake’s Bitcoin rollout a real-world stress test for the crypto’s speed, cost, and usability at scale. The integration was initially teased in March, when the chain posed a question on social media: “Should Steak ‘n Shake accept Bitcoin?” which drew engagement from figures like former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Since then, the company has built momentum around crypto-curious marketing, culminating in Thursday’s formal announcement. Steak ‘n Shake has also leaned into Bitcoin’s cultural iconography, previously tweeting an image of a Mars-bound cargo ship stamped with the Bitcoin logo in reference to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vocal promotion of beef tallow and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s interplanetary aspirations. The Bitcoin play Several major food and beverage chains have experimented with crypto payments over the past decade, though many of those efforts have been discontinued, scaled back, or confined to narrow pilots. Starbucks allowed customers to reload their digital wallets using Bitcoin via the Bakkt app, a feature launched in 2021 that converts BTC into dollars before it reaches the retailer. Chipotle followed suit in mid-2022, partnering with digital payments firm Flexa to accept over 90 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana, at hundreds of U.S. locations, also using automatic conversion into fiat at the point of sale. Subway, one of the earliest adopters in the space, trialed Bitcoin payments as far back as 2013 at select franchises. Some locations reintroduced the option in later years, particularly in crypto-friendly cities, but no system-wide implementation has been announced. Outside the U.S., several fast food giants have turned to crypto as a hedge against local currency instability or as a nod to emerging digital economies. In Venezuela, where inflation has driven interest in dollar alternatives, Burger King partnered with Latin American crypto firm Cryptobuyer in 2020 to enable Bitcoin and altcoin payments across several locations. However, that was only experimental and short-lived. In El Salvador, where Bitcoin was made legal tender in 2021, Pizza Hut became one of the first mainstream outlets to accept the crypto. Edited by Sebastian Sinclair Daily Debrief Newsletter
You may also like

Futures Trading Hours: Trade Cryptocurrency 24/7 and Earn Back Up to 45% in Trading Fees
Learn futures trading hours and the best time to trade crypto futures. Discover 24/7 market insights, peak trading sessions, and how to earn back up to 45% in fees.

Why is a16z Crypto raising another $2.2 billion to heavily invest in Web3?
This round of funding bets on the transition of cryptocurrency from the infrastructure development phase to the phase of real user adoption. Whether focusing on cryptocurrency or crossing over to AI, this real money will only flow to those places that can turn technology into products.

Polymarket Underlying Algorithm Explained
It may be the only article on Twitter that clearly explains all the underlying design of Polymarket in plain language.

What do projects born in the crypto bear market do?
From January to April, RootData has recorded over 1,070 new projects, a decrease of about 32% compared to the same period last year.

a16z founder's Stanford lecture: Whenever Wall Street and Silicon Valley have different ideas, it's Wall Street that ends up being wrong
Ben Horowitz, co-founder of a16z, delivered a powerful talk: The two traditional moats of software in the AI era have been erased, and entrepreneurs must seek "new barriers" beyond code and UI.

Michael Saylor: After three consecutive quarters of losses, Strategy will sell Bitcoin to pay dividends
After MSTR's financial report showed continued net losses, Saylor changed his stance: Bitcoin is no longer "never to be sold" and can be used as a payment tool.

The toll station at Hormuz and the RMB that cannot be bought
The disorder of the US dollar is giving rise to a new situation in global settlement: gold is being redefined as a "bridge," the CIPS system is expanding rapidly, and global funds are quietly opening up a new channel for the renminbi, which is "hard to obtain."

Interview with Coinbase Institutional's Strategic Head: The Institutionalization of Crypto Reaches a Critical Point
Coinbase executives provide an in-depth analysis: Unfazed by short-term market panic, institutions are accelerating their entry, and tokenization along with the "exchange of everything" is about to completely reconstruct the global financial infrastructure.

Dialogue with Agora CEO Nick: The battle for stablecoin licenses has just begun
Agora strikes: officially applies for a federal trust bank license in the United States, elevating from a stablecoin issuer to "underlying financial infrastructure," targeting the trillion-dollar enterprise payment and B2B settlement market.

Morning Report | a16z Crypto completes $2.2 billion fundraising for its fifth fund; Bullish invests $4.2 billion to acquire share transfer agency Equiniti; PayPal's Q1 performance exceeds expectations
Overview of Important Market Events on May 5th

a16z Crypto: What We See Behind the $2.2 Billion New Fund
After the noise subsides, what remains is often more useful than it appeared at its peak and more enduring than it seemed at its lowest point.

Web3 is dead, Web2+3 should rise
We are not aiming to hold a self-indulgent party for Web3 practitioners, but rather to build a bridge for rational connection between Web2 and Web3.

Stablecoins and Latin American Remittances: The Misunderstood $174 Billion Market
In the Latin American remittance market, the real protagonists have never been the young people speculating on cryptocurrencies, but rather the 50-year-old workers who send money to their mothers every month. They don't care about blockchain; they only care about whether the money has arrived.

The arrival of the Web 3.0 era: A review of Hong Kong court rulings on digital assets
Hong Kong judiciary landmark: The court officially recognizes cryptocurrency as legal property and introduces the "tokenized injunction" to track and freeze involved funds, comprehensively upgrading the protection of digital asset investors.

Track Markets At a Glance: New WEEX Price Widgets for iOS & Android
To streamline your market data access, WEEX has officially launched "Market Watchlist" desktop widgets

The billion-dollar lesson: The focus of DeFi security is shifting from code to operational governance
Warning of nearly $1 billion loss in DeFi: Security pain points have shifted from code vulnerabilities to permissions and operations. Introducing TradFi bank-level risk control and AI defenses is the way to balance openness and security.

A Brief Analysis of Stablecoin Licenses and On-Chain Funding
Hong Kong accelerates the layout of digital finance, providing a panoramic analysis of the evolution of three major on-chain financial forms: central bank digital currency, deposit tokens, and stablecoins, along with future opportunities.

BVNK Founder: Three Stages of Stablecoin Development
Once payments become faster, cheaper, and globally interconnected, stablecoins will not just open up a new market, but a new realm with boundaries that are not yet visible today.
Futures Trading Hours: Trade Cryptocurrency 24/7 and Earn Back Up to 45% in Trading Fees
Learn futures trading hours and the best time to trade crypto futures. Discover 24/7 market insights, peak trading sessions, and how to earn back up to 45% in fees.
Why is a16z Crypto raising another $2.2 billion to heavily invest in Web3?
This round of funding bets on the transition of cryptocurrency from the infrastructure development phase to the phase of real user adoption. Whether focusing on cryptocurrency or crossing over to AI, this real money will only flow to those places that can turn technology into products.
Polymarket Underlying Algorithm Explained
It may be the only article on Twitter that clearly explains all the underlying design of Polymarket in plain language.
What do projects born in the crypto bear market do?
From January to April, RootData has recorded over 1,070 new projects, a decrease of about 32% compared to the same period last year.
a16z founder's Stanford lecture: Whenever Wall Street and Silicon Valley have different ideas, it's Wall Street that ends up being wrong
Ben Horowitz, co-founder of a16z, delivered a powerful talk: The two traditional moats of software in the AI era have been erased, and entrepreneurs must seek "new barriers" beyond code and UI.
Michael Saylor: After three consecutive quarters of losses, Strategy will sell Bitcoin to pay dividends
After MSTR's financial report showed continued net losses, Saylor changed his stance: Bitcoin is no longer "never to be sold" and can be used as a payment tool.
Popular coins
Latest Crypto News
Read more
Customer Support:@weikecs
Business Cooperation:@weikecs
Quant Trading & MM:bd@weex.com
VIP Program:support@weex.com


