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Bitcoin (BTC) Slips Below $94K, Ripple (XRP) Drops Toward $2 (Market Watch)

Bitcoin (BTC) Slips Below $94K, Ripple (XRP) Drops Toward $2 (Market Watch)

The highly-anticipated Santa Claus rally is nowhere to be seen as bitcoin continues to lose value by dropping below $94,000.

The altcoins are also mostly in the red, with XRP dumping by 6% and XLM following suit.

BTC Fails at Recovery

It hasn’t been a particularly hopeful end of 2024 on a micro-scale. The asset began its painful decline on December 17 when its price stood above $108,000. In just a matter of three days, it had lost around $16,000 and dumped to $92,000.

The bulls intercepted the move and helped prevent a further drop below $90,000. In fact, BTC started recovering some ground and spiked toward $100,000 on a couple of occasions, but to no avail. The last such example was on December 26 when BTC touched that line but was quickly rejected once again.

The subsequent decline pushed it south hard, and the asset fell to $95,000 over the weekend. However, the landscape worsened in the past 24 hours and dropped further to $93,000. Despite bouncing off that level, for now, BTC is still over 1% down on the day.

Its market capitalization has plummeted to under $1.860 trillion on CG, and its dominance over the alts stands at 54%.

XRP Keeps Bleeding

Most altcoins are in the red once again today. The trend is led by XRP, which continues its downfall and is close to breaking below $2 now. If it dumps below that level, analysts foresee another massive decline toward $1.

XLM has also dropped hard from the larger-cap alts, losing nearly 5% of value and trading well below $0.35. BNB, SOL, DOGE, ADA, TRX, AVAX, LINK, TON, SUI, and many others are also in the red, albeit in a less painful manner.

The total crypto market cap has lost another $60 billion since yesterday and is down to $3.430 trillion on CG.

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Steak ‘n Shake Says Bitcoin Payments Cut Processing Costs by 50%, Save $6 Million Annually

Steak ‘n Shake Reveals Bitcoin Payment System Slashes Costs by Half

At the Bitcoin 2026 Conference in Las Vegas, Michael Boes, Steak ‘n Shake’s Chief MAHA Officer, shared how Bitcoin has significantly impacted the restaurant chain’s business. He noted a surge of 2 million new customers, substantial cost savings, and a thorough menu revamp attributable to the adoption of Bitcoin payments.

Boes highlighted that the chain initiated its Bitcoin payment system on May 16, 2025, utilizing the Lightning Network. The results were immediate; same-store sales jumped by 11% in Q2 2025 and soared to 15% in Q3 2025. This performance outstripped major competitors like McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Domino’s.

He proudly declared it as the highest increase in same-store sales within the entire restaurant sector.

BREAKING: Steak ‘n Shake reports, “when we use bitcoin, we save 50% on processing fees compared to traditional credit card users.”

“If every credit card user switched to bitcoin, we would save around $6 million each year. That’s significant!” pic.twitter.com/NxuFOa3xmW

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) April 29, 2026

The financial rationale for embracing Bitcoin is clear, according to Boes. Each time a customer opts to pay with Bitcoin instead of a credit card, Steak ‘n Shake benefits from a reduction of approximately half on processing costs. Credit card companies typically charge businesses between 2.5% and 3.5% per transaction.

“We’re advancing with bitcoin – it represents the future of currency,” Boes asserted.

Enhancing Quality with Bitcoin Savings

The potential savings amounting to about $6 million annually could directly enhance food quality at Steak ‘n Shake. Boes remarked that these funds facilitate improvements in their offerings.

“Bitcoin is genuine money powered by real energy,” he stated during his presentation. “It’s an effective currency enabling us to produce healthier products.”

Steps toward these improvements are already in progress. The chain plans to eliminate microwaves from all kitchens while transitioning to fully grass-fed beef across its locations starting June 1.

Previously, they shifted from using seed oils to beef tallow for frying fries as part of their commitment to the Make America Healthy Again initiative.

New Menu Items Celebrating Bitcoin

During the conference, Boes also introduced two innovative menu items inspired by Bitcoin: a Bitcoin Milkshake and a Bitcoin Steakburger—both reflective of Bitcoin’s capped supply of 21 million coins.

Steak ‘n Shake has established a self-sustaining Bitcoin economy through its payment strategy. All Bitcoins received are funneled into the company’s strategic reserves, which currently stand at $10 million.

This reserve helps fund a bonus program that awards hourly employees $0.21 for each hour worked. Notably, Boes disclosed his acceptance of Bitcoin as part of his executive salary package as well.

“I’m among the first executives in this industry accepting bitcoin as compensation,” he added. “I hope this sets a precedent for future compensation models throughout our sector.”

The restaurant chain has hundreds of establishments across the United States and internationally in countries such as France, Italy, Portugal, and Monaco.