Intro
Every year, more and more people are convinced that cryptocurrency is not just a speculative tool but a convenient means of payment, which sometimes is much superior to fiat. So more and more people are entering the crypto space and want to use cryptocurrency for everyday payments. Tech-savvy business owners also do not want to miss out on customers, so they strive to provide their customers with a crypto payment method. To date, with the help of cryptocurrency, you can pay for a flight, rent or buy a car, pay for subscriptions to various services, and even buy coffee or lunch. Which restaurants jumped on the crypto bandwagon? Find out in today’s article.
Why Do Restaurant Owners Accept Crypto Payments?
Cryptocurrency has brought into our lives that long-awaited freedom and privacy we could only dream of. For this reason, millions of people worldwide use crypto for investments, payments, remittances, and other purposes. In turn, the owners of the restaurant business, who want to make a well-known brand out of their business and get a large share of visitors, begin to search for those unique solutions, the implementation of which will lead to success. One of these solutions is cryptocurrency. The introduction of a crypto payment method provides business owners with the following perks:
- Marketing tool. The restaurant business is the leader in the number of bankruptcies, thanks to its tough competition. Introducing crypto payments can be an excellent marketing ploy, attract more customers, and get ahead of competitors.
- Low transaction fees. Banks charge huge fees for processing payments, which can significantly affect the profitability and stability of the business. In turn, introducing crypto payments dramatically allows business owners to save on operating costs.
- Fast and borderless transactions. Crypto payments are many times faster than traditional financial structures. In the case of crypto, the average waiting time is 10 minutes, and some coins allow you to make instant transactions. In addition, the payment speed does not depend on the location of the transaction participants.
- Chargebacks-free. Chargeback is a procedure for protesting a transaction made on a bank card. Chargeback fraud creates a headache for business owners and deprives them of hard-earned money. On the other hand, crypto transactions are irreversible, which eliminates the risk of fraud.
- Privacy. Traditional payment providers oblige users to share personal data and undergo multi-stage verification, which brings some inconveniences and concerns. On the contrary, you just need to create your own crypto wallet without providing any sensitive data for a cryptocurrency transaction.
Top 5 Crypto-Friendly Restaurants
- Starbucks
Starbucks is a leading coffee restaurant chain that has been operating successfully for over 50 years. Despite its advanced age, the company keeps up with the times and constantly integrates advanced technologies. One of these was the introduction of crypto payments in cooperation with the digital wallet provider Bakkt. Bukkt, together with Starbucks, introduced a mobile wallet for Bitcoin.
The application allows you to store, buy and sell Bitcoin and manage various bonuses, loyalty points, gift cards, and miles. Now Bakkt customers can use a mobile wallet to convert BTC to USD and top up their Starbucks cards via the Starbucks app for iOS.
But that’s not all. The Starbucks team plans to launch a series of branded NFTs, the owners of which will be rewarded with exclusive experiences and benefits.
- Subway
Subway is a chain of fast food restaurants operating on the principle of franchising. Subway differs from most fast foods in its focus on healthy eating. That is, here, you will not find fries and other junk food; even a bun can be replaced with pita bread. Subway has become a crypto trend maker because some restaurant franchises have accepted crypto for payment since 2013. At that time, it made an incredible sensation among visitors. The first purchase using BTC was recorded on video. It’s not for nothing that we mentioned that Subway works on the principle of franchises. Therefore, the franchise owner has the right to decide on adding crypto as a payment option independently.
Thus, if the Subway branch accepts crypto payments, you just need to come, place an order, and ask to pay with cryptocurrency. After that, you will be provided with the wallet address where you need to send the amount. In addition, residents of Singapore and the United States can buy Subway Gift Cards using cryptocurrency. This opportunity is provided by various services, such as Bitrefill or Gyft.
- Pizza Hut Venezuela
With the purchase of pizza for cryptocurrency, one ridiculous story is connected. In 2010, a programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 BTC. At that time, Bitcoin had no such value, and 10,000 BTC was equal to about $41. Now you can judge for yourself the scandalousness of this event. Fortunately, our next place allows you to buy pizza much cheaper.
Pizza Hut is the largest chain of pizzerias in the world. Just like Subway, the company allows entrepreneurs to buy franchises in various parts of the world. Among the many franchises, the Venezuelan branch of Pizza Hut attracts attention, which allows visitors to pay with Bitcoin. To enable its customers to buy pizza with cryptocurrency, the company cooperates with the crypto payment provider CryptoBuyer.
Such a move by the Venezuelan franchise is not just a marketing ploy but almost a lifeline given the hyperinflation inherent in Venezuela’s national currency. However, not only residents of Venezuela can buy pizza at Pizza Hut. Bitrefill provides Pizza Hut Gift Vouchers for residents of some countries.
- Burger King
Burger King is one of the five most prominent fast food restaurant chains. The company has been operating successfully for over 60 years and pleases customers with its legendary Whoppers. As with the listed companies, Burger King Holdings does not accept cryptocurrency as a means of payment. However, some regional branches do not miss the opportunity to attract crypto enthusiasts.
Some Burger King branches have accepted crypto payments much better than their like-minded counterparts. For example, the Russian Burger King attempted to accept BTC payments and even released branded WhopperCoins, which were credited to consumers as a reward for the order. Burger King in Arnhem, Netherlands, also launched a program for accepting BTC payments.
Unfortunately, the listed campaigns were not crowned with success. The German branch of Burger King, which started taking BTC payments in 2019, has distinguished itself from its counterparts and successfully accepts crypto for payment, but only for online orders. Another successful example is the Venezuelan Burger King, which accepts crypto payments at checkout.
- Chipotle Mexican Grill
Chipotle Mexican Grill is a fast food restaurant chain specializing in burritos and tacos. The Chipotle bistro was supposed to be a workhorse that would help its founder save money to open a Michelin restaurant. Instead, one institution turned into a chain of more than several thousand restaurants. Most locations are in the United States, with more than 3,000 restaurants. In US Chipotle restaurants, consumers can now use cryptocurrency as a payment option.
Such a payment method has appeared recently, thanks to cooperation with the Flexa digital payment provider. It is noteworthy that customers can pay with any of about a hundred supported digital currencies, ranging from the most popular such as BTC, DOGE, LTC, and DASH and ending with such as UNI, QNT, AUDIO, or 1inch. Moreover, Flexa provides a 10% discount on the next Chipotle order (subject to payment with cryptocurrency). As for other Chipotle branches in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, there were no announcements about accepting crypto payments.
Wrap-Up
As you can see, the popularity of the crypto payment method among restaurant owners is only growing. This article lists the top most famous restaurants that allow consumers to pay with cryptocurrency. In fact, the list of crypto-friendly restaurants is extremely extensive, ranging from chains to little-known, cozy, small cafes. Thus, if you want to know more about such places, we recommend using the Coinmap.org service, where you can easily find crypto restaurants near you.