Still think burger flipping is a low-wage job? Think again.
The Indianapolis-based fast food chain Steak ‘n Shake recently announced a new “Bitcoin bonus” for hourly wage earners. According to an announcement on X-formerly-Twitter, “all hourly employees” at corporate locations will receive $0.21 in Bitcoin per hour.
“We take care of our employees; they, in turn, take care of customers; and the results take care of themselves,” the company declared.
Of course, there’s a catch. As the announcement reads, “employees will be able to collect their Bitcoin pay after a two-year vesting period,” meaning workers will have to stay with the company for two full years before they can actually access their “bonus.”
Vesting periods are typical in corporate compensation models, where employees can be payed in part through stock options, RSUs, or 401(k) contributions. But they’re pretty much unheard of for fry cooks, as is the idea of a bonus paid out through crypto.
The magnitude of the bonus is also rather meager. Assuming there are 2,080 working hours in the year, and that the purchasing power of $0.21 in Bitcoin doesn’t collapse, workers can look forward to collecting the equivalent of a whopping $873.60 after two years — minus fees to convert it back into USD or drugs, whichever they might choose.
It’s also worth noting that workers at franchise locations will be ineligible for the paltry bonus. As of June 2025, there roughly 60 percent of all Steak ‘n Shake restaurants were franchised, according to food-industry publication Tasting Table.
It could also be used to excuse stagnating wages as the cost of living soars. We reached out to Steak ‘n Shake to see whether the Bitcoin bonus was taking the place of other compensation bumps, like cost-of-living wage increases or annual bonuses in US dollars.
The announcement comes a day after the fast-food corporation revealed it was holding $10 million worth of the cryptocurrency in its “strategic bitcoin reserve.” Eight months ago, Steak ‘n Shake began accepting Bitcoin as payment for its deep fried slop — another odd choice among fast food companies, but certainly one in keeping with its increasingly libertarian ethos.
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