Landry’s Restaurant Group is offering bitcoins to its customers and even intends to HODler some. The company is owned by a cryptophile billionaire who is helping to drive the adoption of cryptocurrencies via his various companies.
Landry’s Restaurant Group and NYDIG: bitcoin sliced into plates
On November 9, 2021, Landry’s Restaurant Group announced a partnership with New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG), allowing restaurant guests at the hotel conglomerate to earn $25 in bitcoin for every $250 spent. Landry’s is owned by billionaire Tillman Fertitta, who is also its CEO. The company has a dozen franchises, including Morton’s, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, the Rainforest Cafe and the Palm.
Several of the group’s restaurants began accepting bitcoin payments in April 2021. Fertitta emphasized at the time, the ease in making cryptocurrency transactions and the sustainability of cryptocurrencies:
“It’s amazing how simple a [crypto] transaction is, and they are here to stay. That’s where it’s happening, and it was inevitable that it would happen.”
Landry’s isn’t the only company in Fertitta to dive into cryptocurrencies. Its basketball team, the Houston Rockets, announced a partnership with Bitmain subsidiary Antpool in September 2021. Tillman also indicated in June 2021, that he would begin validating blocks for the Akash network.
From bitcoin to cash: extensions between Landry’s and NYDIG
Landry’s isn’t just about accepting cryptocurrency payments or promoting them to its customers. Landry’s director of digital asset strategy Trey Zeluff said the company will keep some of its bitcoin cash under NYDIG’s purview:
“We see bitcoin as a good choice for some of our own cash, so we want to offer that choice to our customers as well.”
NYDIG has partnered with Fertitta in the past, with the launch of bitcoin-backed loans at the billionaire’s luxury car dealership, Post Oak Motor Cars.
Crypto-currencies are being served up in all manner of ways in the restaurant industry. Landry’s is offering bitcoin on the menu, while Burger King collaborated with Robinhood Crypto to offer its customers $472,000 in dogecoin (DOGE).
