[DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee (이윤서)] U.S. burger chain Steak 'n Shake said it has cut payment fees by about 50% since introducing bitcoin payments.

CoinPost, a blockchain outlet, reported on Tuesday local time that Steak 'n Shake introduced bitcoin payments at all stores in May 2025. It stressed that the cost-saving effect has continued for about a year since then.

The key is the payment cost structure. Restaurants and retailers can face pressure on profitability as interchange fees, network fees and payment processing fees stack up in card transactions. With bitcoin payments, such processing costs fall to about half that level.

Steak 'n Shake also put forward an estimate that it could save about $6 million a year if all customers switched from credit cards to bitcoin. It said the figure was a hypothetical scenario rather than the actual situation, and current bitcoin payment usage remains limited.

The market is again focusing on how much bitcoin payments can expand in real-world use. Bitcoin has large price swings, and in the United States there is also the possibility it could become taxable each time a payment is made, leaving constraints on its use as an everyday payment method. At the same time, it is also noted that layer2 technology and payment processor infrastructure have taken shape, lowering adoption hurdles for merchants compared with before.

Steak 'n Shake is putting bitcoin at the forefront of its brand strategy rather than stopping at adopting a payment method. The company said in January that sales at existing stores rose dramatically after introducing bitcoin payments, and it built a circular model that puts all bitcoin sales proceeds into a strategic bitcoin reserve. It bought an additional $10 million worth of bitcoin at the time, and it is also running a program that donates small amounts to open-source development each time it sells a bitcoin-themed burger.

This trend is unusual even among large fast-food chains. Steak 'n Shake is continuing marketing aimed directly at the bitcoin community, appearing to seek both lower payment costs and brand differentiation. It said whether adoption spreads in practice depends on consumer usability, tax processing issues, and how much bitcoin's share of payments increases.

Therefore, the point to watch in this case is not the fee-cut figure itself but how much bitcoin payments can replace card payments in the restaurant field. Steak 'n Shake's suggested annual savings of about $6 million would require higher usage rates to materialise, and for now it can be seen as a stage of testing both cost efficiency and brand strategy.