BUBBLE: Blockchain announcement sends stock of Hooters franchisee soaring.

“Eating a burger is now a way to mine for cryptocoins,” said Dennis Becker, CEO of Mobivity, the company that’s helping Chanticleer jump on the cryptocurrency bandwagon. “Every meal enjoyed at any Chanticleer Holdings brand will accrue currency for the consumer that can be used for future meals or traded with other consumers.”

Chanticleer Holdings owns a number of different brands, most of them burger-related. These include Little Big Burger in the Northwest, American Burger Co. on the East Coast, and the national BGR chain.

Evidently, the stock market believes that putting these restaurants’ reward programs on the blockchain raises their value by around 50 percent.

What’s the advantage of blockchain-based rewards?

“Mobivity Merit is real cryptocurrency, leveraging the same infrastructure and principles of bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, litecoin,” Chanticleer CEO Michael Pruitt says in the company’s press release. Rather than being locked into one specific rewards program, customers will be able to transfer their reward points across multiple restaurants. Meanwhile, the Mobivity blockchain will help companies track their customers’ preferences, allowing them to provide more personalized service.

So it’s really about advertising then.