More and more companies, from real estate developers to now a burger chain are exploring what cryptocurrency could mean for transactions and the future of their businesses.
This includes a recent move by the popular burger chain Shake Shack (SHAK), which is now running a promotion that provides customers bitcoin as a reward for making food purchases using Block’s (SQ) Cash App.
Shake Shack posted total revenue of $739.9 million in 2021, which is up from 41.5% the prior year, according to its latest financial results. The burger chain now has over 240 U.S. locations and over 125 locations internationally.
The promotion is projected to extend through March and is slated to attract younger more technologically savvy/inclined consumers and is expected to gauge demand for cryptocurrencies.
With the deal, customers receive 15% of their purchase price back made with Cash Card or via Cash Boost, back in the form of bitcoin.
Restaurants and hospitality are seeing potential and ways to draw more customers by allowing them the opportunity to make purchases using cryptocurrencies.
Still, the crypto world remains much bigger than just finance and purchasing.
“What began as the basis of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, blockchain technology — essentially a virtual ledger capable of recording and verifying a high volume of digital transactions — is now spreading across a wave of industries,” according to the Coin Desk article.
The blockchain and cryptocurrency is set to revolutionise a number of industries.
As noted in a CB Insights article, blockchain has now gone far beyond its beginnings in banking and cryptocurrency.
“Annual funding to blockchain companies, despite falling from 2018’s record high, more than doubled in 2020 compared to 2017. Annual spending on blockchain solutions will reach nearly $16B by 2023, according to CB Insights’ Market Sizing Tool,” according to the article.
A wide swath of industries will be impacted, and some already are: from cannabis, to insurance and gaming.
While bitcoin has shown crypto’s and the blockchain’s potential in finance, other entrepreneurs are recognising that the application of blockchain can go much further.
The uses for verifiable and transparent transactions are virtually endless, particularly since blockchains function through a decentralised platform are endless, especially since they are resistant to fraud.
“As companies use blockchain to drive greater transparency and veracity across the digital information ecosystem, they’re boosting awareness of the technology in sectors ranging from infrastructure to public policy,” according to the article.