Bubba Gump Shrimp, Morton’s, Rainforest Café

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Raymond Boyd | Michael Ochs Archives | Getty Images

Patrons of restaurants such as Bubba Gump Shrimp, Morton’s The Steakhouse, and Rainforest Cafe will soon have the opportunity to earn bitcoins every time they buy a steak or a beer.

Restaurant giant Landry’s is teaming up with crypto custodial firm NYDIG to power a bitcoin loyalty rewards program at its 500 locations nationwide. Diners earn one point for every dollar spent, with 250 points translating into a reward of $ 25 in bitcoin.

Bitcoin hit a new all-time high of over $ 68,500 on Monday night and is up almost 350% from a year ago.

“A lot of Americans don’t own bitcoin yet because they aren’t comfortable going into an exchange and creating an account or they’re not sure where to invest their money,” said Patrick Sells, innovation director at NYDIG.

“And now they can just say, ‘Hey, let me market myself by dining at a restaurant that I love, or trying a restaurant that I might not have been to,” Sells continued.

Landry’s tells CNBC he hopes to launch the new Bitcoin program before Thanksgiving. It will be offered to 3.2 million members of the Landry – Landry’s Select Club loyalty program.

“It’s a wonderful way to play without really putting anything at risk,” said Trey Zeluff, director of digital asset strategy at Landry’s.

Zeluff says the program is designed in part to help clients “get comfortable with the volatility” of bitcoin by watching their points rise and their purchasing power fall.

“With our old point system, their value was static, and in the context of inflation, they could even depreciate,” Zeluff continued.

Landry’s also makes a personal bet on bitcoin.

The company plans to hold a portion of its bitcoin cash reserves through NYDIG, although the company is not sharing how much it plans to invest.

Landry CEO and Chairman Tilman Fertitta, who also owns the Houston Rockets, has been bullish on bitcoin for some time. Its NBA team takes Bitcoin among other cryptocurrencies in its official online store, and luxury car dealer Fertitta in Houston that sells Rolls-Royces, Bentleys, and Bugattis has accepted the digital coin since 2018.

“It’s amazing how simple the deal is, and it’s here to stay. That’s where it is, and it’s inevitable that it will happen,” Fertitta previously told CNBC.

Fertitta also offers bitcoin backed loans for those who do not wish to liquidate their crypto stake in order to buy a car.

People who choose to transact in any cryptocurrency should exercise caution, according to accountants.

The Internal Revenue Service treats virtual currencies like bitcoin as property, which means spending bitcoin is considered the same as selling it.

“The one thing that a lot of people don’t realize is that every time you spend cryptocurrency to buy a cup of coffee or any type of consumer item, it triggers a capital gain event,” said Shehan Chandrasekera, CPA and Head of Tax Strategy at CoinTracker.io, a digital currency tax software company that helps clients track their crypto on virtual wallet addresses and manage their corresponding tax obligations.

There is always a difference between the price you paid for the cryptocurrency, which is the basis of the cost, and the market value at the time you spend it. This difference can trigger capital gains taxes, in addition to other taxes you have to pay, like sales tax.

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