The Steak ‘n Shake diner chain demonstrated a sales growth of 10.7% in the second quarter after introducing Bitcoin payment $BTC — a result that outperformed the figures of the largest American restaurant chains for the same period.
"Bitcoin has become a real breakthrough," the company stated on social media X on Friday, thanking Bitcoin users for the support they began providing to the company since May 16, when the chain started accepting Bitcoin for payments.
The confident sales growth shows that the use of Bitcoin for trading operations is still relevant in the USA, where cryptocurrency is mainly viewed as an investment asset, unlike in developing countries where it is more frequently used for everyday transactions.
"Bitcoin continues to be ignored... but they won’t be able to do this forever," the company noted.
The sales growth indicator for Steak ‘n Shake at 10.7% was the highest among leading American fast-food chains in the quarter. Editor-in-Chief of Restaurant Business Magazine Jonathan Maze published data on various American restaurant chains on X, including the most popular McDonald’s, Domino’s, and Taco Bell, which showed sales fluctuations ranging from -7.1% to 6.1%.
The Steak ‘n Shake chain has started accepting Bitcoin in all its locations where permitted by law, including France, Monaco, and Spain, in addition to the USA. The company noted that this innovation has made cryptocurrency payments accessible to over 100 million customers.
Immediate effect of implementation
About two weeks after starting to accept Bitcoin, Steak ‘n Shake's Chief Operating Officer Dan Edwards noted that Bitcoin allowed the company to save 50% on payment processing fees.
"This means that Bitcoin is beneficial for the customer, beneficial for us as entrepreneurs, and beneficial for the Bitcoin community," said Edwards at the Bitcoin 2025 conference at the end of May. He added that Steak ‘n Shake processed 0.2% of all Bitcoin transactions on the day of the launch.