Burger chain attributes growth to crypto payments, but withholds transaction data
Steak ‘n Shake reported 16% same-store sales growth in July and credited Bitcoin payments alongside customer loyalty, marking the first public attribution of sales momentum to its cryptocurrency acceptance program.
The burger chain, owned by Biglari Holdings, began accepting Bitcoin at U.S. locations in May 2025 and said it would add received Bitcoin to a strategic reserve. Payments use a third-party provider with no additional Bitcoin fee charged to customers. Menu prices remain denominated in U.S. dollars.
The company posted the sales claim on July 10, 2025, hours before announcing a promotion for free fries. A separate promotion ran during July offering two Liberty Meals for $17.76.
“Anyone who doubts the power of Bitcoin is making a BIG mistake,” Steak ‘n Shake said in a statement.
The attribution stands in contrast to Biglari Holdings’ 2025 shareholder letter, which credited sales growth to product quality, point-of-sale and kiosk overhaul, productivity improvements, and the owner-operator model. The shareholder letter did not mention Bitcoin.
No Bitcoin volume disclosed
Steak ‘n Shake has not revealed Bitcoin order volume, transaction count, or the actual share of sales generated through cryptocurrency payments. As of July 16, 2025, the company had not published granular Bitcoin transaction data.
Michael Boes, a Steak ‘n Shake executive, presented claims at the Bitcoin 2026 conference that Bitcoin transactions reduce costs by 50% compared to traditional card payments and that the company could save approximately $6 million annually if every credit-card customer switched to Bitcoin. Boes also claimed a 2 million customer increase year-over-year following the Bitcoin rollout, though he did not specify whether those customers paid with Bitcoin or disclose the method used to attribute the increase.
Growth trajectory predates July claims
First-quarter same-store sales growth of 10% was already underway before the July sales claim. Biglari Holdings reported that company-operated units declined from 146 to 128 in the first quarter, while franchise-partner units increased from 172 to 182. The company raised restaurant marketing expense by 67.9% in the first quarter, to $5.427 million from $3.232 million a year prior.
Company-store food costs rose to 31.4% of net sales in the first quarter from 30.0% a year earlier.
