Burger company stock soars after it mentions blockchain

As the bitcoin and blockchain craze continues to explode, nothing should really surprise us anymore. Yet there's news that a company that owns some smaller burger chains and even a few Hooters locations made some nice cash off of said craze on Tuesday.

Chanticleer Holdings, whose brands include American Burger Co. and Little Big Burger, dropped an announcement about a new "loyalty program" that would reward customers with units of a proprietary cryptocurrency to use on future meals via the MobivityMind blockchain platform.

Upon this announcement, Chanticleer's stock became hot fire for a little while this morning, going as high as 95 percent over its previous value. Things have calmed a bit, but as of publication of this post, it's still up 48 percent.

As business fads go, blockchain is emerging as a particularly profitable way to turn any company's stock into a winner. One cigar company that recently announced it is getting into "aggressive cryptocurrency mining" saw its stock rise a whopping 2,233 percent.

A press release from Chanticler gave a few more details, including the name of the cryptocurrency to be used (Mobivity Merit) and how it works: earn units of Mobivity Merit with your purchases and watch your account to be used for future meals surely skyrocket alongside your waistline!

Michael D. Pruitt, Chairman, president and CEO of Chanticleer Holdings, said in the statement: “Use your Merit mined by eating at Little Big Burger to get a buffalo chicken sandwich at American Burger Co., or trade them with your vegan friend so he can get a veggie burger at BGR. And that’s just the beginning."

Sounds utterly delightful.

As for what this means if you visit one of Chanticleer's nine Hooter's locations? Well, nothing. Pruitt told Mashable that the Hooters locations would not be included in the program at this time.