Steak 'n Shake's Bitcoin bet brings double-digit sales growth

Steak 'n Shake Bitcoin Payment Pilot: The Truth and Dispute Behind Sales Growth

According to Steak' n Shake, the decision to accept Bitcoin payments has brought significant results, with sales to its franchisees increasing by 19% this quarter alone. This statement was posted on the X (formerly Twitter) platform on September 8. Although this story sounds good in terms of retailers 'acceptance of Bitcoin, it is only a corporate announcement after all. In fact, there is currently no conclusive evidence that Bitcoin played a key role in sales growth, as Biglari Holdings 'regulatory filings only report an increase in sales but do not clearly state how much Bitcoin contributed to it.

This distinction is crucial. In fact, Steak 'n Shake is conducting a test to explore whether traditional retailers can leverage the advantages of Lightning Network, low processing fees, crypto-friendly customer base and Bitcoin reserves to create a replicable success model for other merchants.

Data released by the company

At the Bitcoin 2026 conference, Michael Boes, chief MAHA officer of Steak n 'Shake, described the improvement in performance since the company began accepting Bitcoin payments, and provided specific data: same-store sales in the second and third quarters of 2025 achieved growth of 11% and 15% respectively. Boes cited these data to demonstrate that the chain brand turned a profit due to Bitcoin. However, Biglari Holdings 'actual filings provide more precise data, albeit classified in a different way.

Steak 'n Shake's Bitcoin Sales Proposition vs. Filing Benchmark

According to Biglari's second quarter 2025 Form 10-Q, the company achieved a 10.7% same-store sales growth. Biglari's third-quarter 2025 filing report showed that sales at its domestic self-operated stores increased by 15.6%, while franchisee stores increased by 14.8%. The 2025 annual report points out that the total growth rate of self-operated restaurants is 10.5%, and that of franchisee restaurants is 10.1%. The combined combined growth rate of the two is 10.2%. In the first quarter of 2026, same-store sales in the domestic market increased by 10.0%, and franchisee sales increased by approximately 13%. Figures for the second quarter of 2026 are domestic sales growth of 11.9% and franchisees growth of 14.5%. In a separate document released by Biglari to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the overall increase in domestic sales reached 13.8%. Although 19% of all the registered data mentioned is also very significant, it covers franchisee stores and has not yet been officially registered.

Steak 'n Shake same-store sales data: What the Biglari filing reveals

When these numbers are reviewed in two different ways, the differences become clearer. The first chart shows the data Steak 'n Shake publicly used to market its Bitcoin-linked sales; the second chart shows more accurate data from Biglari filings, including proprietary, franchisee and combined results. Together, these two sets of data suggest that the momentum of sales growth is not illusory, but not all of these data are reported on the same basis.

Why it is difficult to establish causality

Although the growth is real, Bitcoin's specific contribution remains unknown. Biglari's annual report attributes some of the growth to improvements in food quality and a communications strategy that management calls "resonating with the public." At the same time, Steak 'n Shake reportedly did not disclose the specific percentage of bitcoin revenue that contributed to the company's profits. This makes Bitcoin an element in a larger recovery of Steak n 'Shake rather than a simple experimental variable. Nevertheless, Boes said at the Bitcoin 2026 event that Bitcoin has become one of the main forces driving this process, citing the following statement: "Bitcoin is real money made with real energy."

How Lightning Network Configuration Can Really Save Costs

Cost cases are easier to understand. Steak n 'Shake began accepting Bitcoin payments through the Lightning Network on May 16, 2025. Payment solutions provider Speed reported that the solution had been deployed in all 393 stores in the United States, and quoted then-chief operating officer Dan Edwards as saying that Bitcoin payments reduced the company's payment processing costs by 50% compared with using a credit card.

Even if Bitcoin is not the reason for the surge in sales, cost is still an important consideration. Notably, Square has set part of its service to offer a 0% Bitcoin payment processing fee, indicating that transactions through the cheaper Bitcoin payment network are becoming easier for mainstream companies to try. Steak 'n Shake also directs bitcoin paid by customers into its "strategic bitcoin reserve." Cryptopolitan has previously reported that the reserve has been linked to hourly employee bitcoin bonuses, linking checkouts, treasury management and employee incentives. As a result, this strategy goes beyond mere payment methods, and Steak 'n Shake is combining bitcoin-friendly branding, transaction savings and treasury accumulation through its operations.

The bigger question: When stablecoins take over the market, will merchants follow suit?

The broader cryptocurrency payment market is showing different trends. CoinGate's first half of 2026 report shows that USDC accounted for 22.1% of cryptocurrency payments, ahead of Bitcoin's 21.0%, while Lightning Network only processed 9.6% of BTC payments. TRM Labs has also found that stablecoins are driving retail adoption in markets such as Venezuela. This makes Steak 'n Shake a useful test case, but not necessarily a template. Other retailers may imitate their low-cost cryptocurrency settlement methods, but choose stablecoins or fiat settlement as an alternative.