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Fast-food chain Steak n Shake to pay hourly workers a bitcoin bonus
This follows news from a few days ago that the company added $10 million worth of bitcoin to its corporate treasury.
Jan 21, 2026, 3:43 p.m.
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What to know:
- Steak n Shake will pay hourly employees a bitcoin bonus of $0.21 per hour worked at company-operated locations starting March 1, with rewards vesting after 2 years.
- The bitcoin bonus, worth about 1% of the federal minimum wage, builds on the chain’s broader crypto push, which began in 2025.
- The program, run with bitcoin rewards app Fold, follows Steak n Shake’s $10 million bitcoin treasury purchase.
Steak n Shake is offering hourly employees a bitcoin bonus of $0.21 for every hour worked, the company said Tuesday in a post on X.
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The new policy applies to staff at all company-operated locations starting March 1, and rewards will vest after two years.
The bonus — equivalent to roughly 1% of the federal minimum wage — is the fast-food chain’s latest move in a broader embrace of bitcoin that began in May 2025, when it started accepting BTC payments via the Lightning Network at all U.S. locations.
That rollout wasn’t just a marketing play. Company COO Dan Edwards previously said the bitcoin integration cut card processing fees in half while helping attract a younger demographic. Same-store sales jumped by more than 10% in the second quarter of 2025.
Last week, the company announced the addition $10 million worth of bitcoin to its corporate treasury.
The burger chain’s bitcoin push has included branding efforts, such as a bitcoin-themed burger launched in October. Each "Bitcoin Meal" includes a small donation to open-source Bitcoin development.
The bonus system is being run in partnership with Fold (FLD), a bitcoin rewards app. Employees won’t see the crypto immediately — the vesting period means they’ll need to stay on the job for two years before collecting the accumulated BTC. It’s a long-term bet that echoes stock option plans in tech.
A fast-food worker earning 30 hours a week could earn about $327 in BTC annually under the new system, assuming a steady bitcoin price.
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