Franchise owners of restaurant brands Johnny Rockets, Fatburger, Round Table Pizza, Great American Cookies, and other FAT Brands entities can now pay franchisee royalty payments in Bitcoin. 

The publicly traded FAT Brands (Nasdaq: FAT), which boasts 18 different franchise concepts and more than 2,300 locations worldwide, said the move “underscores its commitment to financial and technological innovation.” 

“Over the years, Bitcoin has transformed into a mainstream asset and, as a company, we see great value in expanding our forms of payments for our franchisees,” said FAT Brands COO Thayer Wiederhorn in a statement. He said that international franchisees in particular, which operate over 20% of its restaurants, may especially benefit from the shift.

“We look forward to utilizing Bitcoin as an efficient tool for streamlining and simplifying the payment process,” Wiederhorn added.

Franchisees, or those that own one of FAT Brands’ quick-service, casual dining locations, can pay franchise and development fees, as well as their royalty payments by sending Bitcoin to a “crypto wallet business account,” a FAT Brands representative told Decrypt. At that point, FAT Brands can decide whether or not it wishes to sell the Bitcoin for USD, or hold it. 

As for adding other payment options like Ethereum or Solana, it could “possibly” happen “in the future,” a representative for FAT Brands told Decrypt, “but we’re starting with Bitcoin.”

What about paying for a Fatburger or milkshake from Johnny Rockets with Bitcoin? 

“Potentially, but not today,” they replied.

The overlap of cryptocurrency and restaurants has grown in recent years. In 2024, on-chain dining rewards platform Blackbird helped bring crypto payments to some of New York’s most acclaimed restaurants. Plus, fast food chains McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut have all run collaborations in Web3.

Furthermore, there’s a growing trend of publicly traded companies embracing Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset, popularized by Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) and its outspoken chairman Michael Saylor. His firm now holds some $44 billion worth of Bitcoin, and the firm's model has inspired dozens of followers.

Edited by Andrew Hayward