At every Steak ‘n Shake restaurant across America, workers are getting something new alongside their regular paycheck: bitcoin. For every hour worked, employees now earn an additional 21 cents in bitcoin. From short-order cooks to cashiers, employees are participating in something unprecedented in America’s fast-food industry—for that matter, in American labor.
Of course, 21 cents isn’t much. But in an economy where working-class wages have stagnated for decades, it’s something.
My company, Fold, built the accounts that hold those bitcoin rewards. And these workers represent the reason I started Fold in the first place.
I’ve spent my career as a fintech entrepreneur asking one question: How can we make ordinary people’s lives better? With bitcoin, that means looking beyond speculation to ask what digital currency can do for someone today. I believe bitcoin can help everyday workers build their financial future. And Steak ‘n Shake understands that, too.
The fast-food counter is often the first rung on the American economic ladder. It’s where teenagers earn their first paychecks, learn teamwork and save toward whatever comes next. Yet these workers are among our most economically vulnerable. Hourly wages buy roughly what they bought in 1973, according to data from Pew Research Center. Meanwhile, kiosks and AI-powered drive-through systems threaten precisely these jobs. The data shows that 73% of adults under 30 believe AI will lead to fewer jobs.
A New Kind of Paycheck
Steak ‘n Shake, a 92-year-old Midwestern institution, decided to try something different.
The company began accepting bitcoin as payment nationwide in May 2025. Same-store sales rose 11% in the following quarter and 15% in the quarter after that. Bitcoin transactions also carried processing fees roughly half those of credit-card payments.
That fall, Fold partnered with Steak ‘n Shake to introduce the Bitcoin Burger: buy the meal and receive $5 in bitcoin. Customers drove across town to participate.
But visiting restaurants, I noticed something. Customers were accumulating bitcoin, and the company was benefiting from increased sales. Yet the workers serving those customers were still earning the same dollars whose purchasing power was slowly eroding.
On March 1, 2026, Steak ‘n Shake began adding bitcoin to the equation.
That’s what bitcoin’s promise should mean in practice. Not speculation for the wealthy, but an opportunity for ordinary Americans to build financial resilience, one paycheck at a time.
Every hourly employee now accrues an additional 21 cents in bitcoin per hour, a nod to bitcoin’s fixed supply of 21 million coins. For a full-time employee, that means approximately $440 in annual rewards at cost, subject to a two-year vesting period.
Bitcoin isn’t a living wage, nor is it a conventional savings account. Critics dismissed the initiative as a publicity stunt costing $6 a week. In truth, compensation in the form of a volatile asset creates genuine risks. If bitcoin’s price halves, the dollar value of employees’ rewards halves too. And workers facing unexpected expenses cannot access unvested rewards.
The Value of 21 Cents
But consider what’s happened since the program began.
Bitcoin traded at around $65,700 on March 1, compared with approximately $84,700 in early October. Meanwhile, consumer prices have risen approximately 1.4% in that same period. That means an employee earning $14 an hour has effectively lost 20 cents per hour in purchasing power.
Yet the bitcoin accumulated through Steak ‘n Shake’s program, purchased at an estimated average price of $68,000, is now worth approximately 26 cents for every 21 cents originally awarded. Inflation eroded 20 cents. But bitcoin generated an additional 5 cents of value on each 21-cent reward, helping offset that erosion.
That’s meaningful for workers struggling with rising prices. Hourly workers are particularly exposed to inflation and often have the fewest assets to protect themselves. The money supply expanded dramatically in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, while rising prices disproportionately affected households dependent on wages.
Now, these workers can accumulate an asset outside of the traditional monetary system through their employer—without sacrificing their dollar paychecks.
Of course, bitcoin isn’t guaranteed to rise when the dollar weakens. Its volatility means it cannot provide reliable protection against inflation. But its supply cannot be expanded by central banks. That distinction offers something potentially valuable: diversification and a stake in an alternative financial system.
For someone who has never owned an appreciating financial asset, even 21 cents an hour can be a start.
That’s what bitcoin’s promise should mean in practice. Not speculation for the wealthy, but an opportunity for ordinary Americans to build financial resilience, one paycheck at a time.