Does Bitcoin Really Explain the 19%? A Disclosure-Layer Gap and How to Read Crypto KPIs

What was announced, and where it came from

Steak 'n Shake said on its official X account on September 8 that same-store sales (SSS) have grown at double-digit rates since it enabled Bitcoin (BTC) payments on May 16, 2025, and that franchise-partner SSS rose 19% year on year this quarter. Founded in 1934, the chain operates roughly 400 restaurants, including about 393 in the United States. Its Lightning Network rollout was among the largest simultaneous deployments in the US restaurant sector.

The announcement, however, was a social media post. No methodology and no third-party verification were provided, and no company-wide figure including corporate-operated units was disclosed.

Reconciling against audited-channel disclosure

Filings by parent Biglari Holdings (NYSE: BH) present different numbers for the same business. In the second quarter of 2026, domestic SSS across company-operated and franchise-partner restaurants combined rose 13.8%, comprising 11.9% at company-operated units and 14.5% at franchise-partner units. In the first quarter, the combined domestic figure was 10.0% and franchise partners came in at approximately 13%.

Franchise-partner numbers therefore run 260 to 300 basis points above company-operated units under an identical menu, identical promotion and identical Bitcoin acceptance. Much of that gap is attributable to an ownership structure in which operators share in restaurant profits, and none of it is explained by Bitcoin. The 19% figure isolates the segment that structurally reports higher, for a quarter that has not yet been filed.

The acceleration also began before Bitcoin. First-quarter 2025 SSS grew 3.9% and the second quarter grew 10.7%, but Bitcoin went live partway through that quarter on May 16, whereas the "MAHA" repositioning — the switch to beef tallow frying and the removal of microwaves — was completed in February and March of 2025. Biglari's own annual letter attributes full-year 2025 growth of 10.2% principally to improved product quality.

The real shape of the payment-cost saving

The fee arithmetic, by contrast, is verifiable and instructive. Card interchange and related costs reach 2.5% to 3.5% of sales, while Lightning routing fees are negligible, and the company reports a sustained saving of roughly 50% on Bitcoin-settled transactions. An executive said in April 2026 that if every card user switched to Bitcoin the chain would save about USD 6 million a year (approximately JPY 920 million), but the company itself has characterised this as a hypothetical, and actual Bitcoin usage remains limited.

Working backwards from that USD 6 million implies system-wide sales of roughly USD 400 to 500 million a year, meaning even the theoretical maximum saving equals 1.2% to 1.5% of sales. Over the same period, food costs at company-operated restaurants rose to 31.4% of net sales in the first quarter of 2026 from 30.0% a year earlier, an increase of 140 basis points, and one analysis puts the cost of the tallow conversion above 300 basis points. The payment-layer saving is real, but it does not cover the input-cost increase.

The cost of treasury fusion, and the barrier in Japan

The hardest element to replicate is the decision not to convert received Bitcoin into fiat, routing it instead into a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. The company added USD 10 million in January 2026, described in its own wording as notional value. Third-party trackers estimate holdings of 160 to 170 BTC at an average acquisition cost near USD 93,000; at approximately USD 77,200 on September 12, that sits close to 20% below cost. Because the reserve is earmarked for remodelling and ingredient upgrades, the company is in effect holding working capital in a highly volatile asset.

In Japan the burden would be heavier still. Under Practical Solution Report No. 38, crypto assets with an active market are marked to market through profit and loss for accounting purposes. For tax, the fiscal 2024 reform permits the cost method for assets qualifying as restricted-transfer crypto assets, but qualification requires technical transfer restrictions together with published disclosure procedures — conditions a reserve intended to be drawn down for renovations cannot meet. A design that deliberately erases the boundary between payments and treasury is one that Japanese accounting and tax rules will redraw by force.

[Business Development Insights]

1. Reconciling disclosure layers is the first-order diligence step for any crypto-related KPI. The gap between brand-channel figures and segment-defined figures in regulatory filings is itself the object of assessment, and formalising that reconciliation into a checklist is a standalone service offering for financial institutions evaluating corporate crypto adoption.
2. The transferable value lies in the fee arithmetic, not the sales lift. Low-ticket, high-frequency, thin-margin merchants benefit most, but the binding constraint in Japan is consumer wallet penetration and legal structuring rather than the rail itself. A yen-denominated stablecoin or prepaid payment instrument reproduces the same fee structure without foreign-exchange or price risk.
3. Payment and treasury layers should be designed separately. Settling receipts immediately into yen while treating any crypto allocation as a distinct, board-approved investment decision preserves the reliable fee benefit while keeping mark-to-market effects and liquidity exposure under control. Providing that design work is itself a commercial offering for domestic retail and restaurant operators.

[Sources]

CoinPost, "US restaurant chain reports 19% franchise sales growth from Bitcoin payments" (September 10, 2026) https://coinpost.jp/?p=736635 Steak 'n Shake official X post (September 8, 2026) https://x.com/SteaknShake/status/2097465539337601211 Biglari Holdings Inc., Form 8-K Exhibit 99.1 earnings release (August 7, 2026) https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1726173/000162828026054846/bh-8kexx99120260807.htm Biglari Holdings Inc., Form 10-Q, first quarter 2026 https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001726173/000162828026032880/bh-20260331.htm Bitcoin Magazine, "Steak 'n Shake Says Sales Grew Double Digits Since Bitcoin Adoption" https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/steak-n-shake-says-sales-grew Cryptopolitan, "Steak 'n Shake's Bitcoin bet posts double-digit sales growth" https://www.cryptopolitan.com/steak-n-shakes-bitcoin-bet-posts-double-digit-sales-growth/ QSR Magazine, "Steak 'n Shake's Sales are Still Rising Amid 'MAHA' Push" https://www.qsrmagazine.com/story/steak-n-shakes-sales-are-still-rising-amid-maha-push/ Fortune (April 23, 2026) https://fortune.com/2026/04/23/michael-boes-steak-shake-chief-maha-officer-meat-rfk-food-pyramid/ Bitcoin Magazine, "Bitcoin Is Behind Recent Steak 'n Shake Success, Exec Says" https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/bitcoin-is-fueling-steak-n-shake-comeback Decrypt, "Steak 'n Shake Adds $10 Million in Bitcoin Exposure" https://decrypt.co/355051/steak-shake-10-million-bitcoin-exposure-alongside-btc-strategic-reserve 99Bitcoins, "Steak and Shake Bitcoin Payments: $6M in Annual Fee Savings" https://99bitcoins.com/news/bitcoin-btc/steak-and-shake-bitcoin-payment-processing-savings/ Commentary on Japan's fiscal 2024 tax reform regarding year-end valuation of restricted-transfer crypto assets https://profession-net.com/professionjournal/corporation-article-1301/