Steak ’n Shake COO Says Bitcoin ‘a Win for Everyone’ After Global Rollout

Speaking at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, Steak ’n Shake’s Chief Operations Officer (COO), Dan Edwards, asserted that bitcoin outpaces credit cards

Steak ’n Shake’s Chief Operations Officer (COO), Dan Edwards, has said that bitcoin is faster than credit cards and reduces processing costs by half.

Speaking at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, Edwards also stated that Steak ’n Shake has rolled out bitcoin acceptance internationally. BTC payments are now available in France, Monaco, and Spain.

According to Edwards, the “global implementation” has yielded positive results, with bitcoin outperforming conventional financial rails such as credit cards.

“Our experience so far with bitcoin has been that it is faster than credit cards. When customers choose to pay in bitcoin, instead of credit cards, we are saving about 50% in our processing fees,” Edwards said.

The Steak ’n Shake executive added:

This means that bitcoin is a win for the customer. It’s a win for us as the merchant, and it’s a win for you in the bitcoin community.

Steak ’n Shake officially began accepting bitcoin (BTC) as a form of payment across all its U.S. outlets on May 16, 2025. Along with this digital shift, the company also embraced a culinary pivot—transitioning every fryer to 100% all-natural beef tallow in lieu of traditional vegetable oils.

During the Bitcoin 2025 event, Edwards shared a selection of data points recorded by Steak ’n Shake on the day bitcoin payments were launched.

“The day we launched bitcoin payments at Steak ’n Shake, Steak ’n Shake accounted for two-tenths of 1% of the global bitcoin transactions in the world,” the company’s COO said.

“So while bitcoin may be the future, Steak ’n Shake has brought bitcoin into the present, and there’s no question we’ve seen an upsurge in our business.”

Steak ’n Shake’s adoption of bitcoin marks a pivot toward streamlined operations and innovation in commerce. By highlighting speedier payments and lower transaction costs, the company showcases how cryptocurrency can offer tangible value to both businesses and their customers.

Their success signals bitcoin’s increasing relevance as a functional payment tool—transforming abstract promise into real-world utility. The move reveals a calculated strategy that may inspire similar action across the food industry.