AMC theaters are already accepting cryptocurrency for tickets

AMC theater chain has revealed that it is starting to let moviegoers in the United States pay for their tickets and snacks in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

In August, AMC has announced that it will start accepting cryptocurrency by the end of the year. Now, company CEO Adam Aron has revealed on Twitter that you can already use your digital coins to purchase movie tickets.

And, true to the promise he made in September, AMC isn’t only accepting Bitcoin, but also Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin – for online purchases, that is. Aron also said that the theater chain has started accepting Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal payments.

It sounds like moviegoers are welcoming the new payment method with open arms since it already accounts for 14 percent of the company’s total online transactions. Aron also said that AMC will be adding Dogecoin next.

AMC almost went bankrupt due to the pandemic last year, but it was saved in part thanks to an army of day traders on Reddit and Twitter that sent its stocks soaring by around 2,300%. Aron fully embraced the company’s status as a meme stock and told investors in an earnings call earlier this month that AMC is exploring the creation of its own cryptocurrency.

AMC also plans to make a foray into the world of NFTs, as well, and is in talks with Hollywood studios to create non-fungible tokens related to significant films. During the call, Aron said that the theater chain is also looking into accepting Shiba Inu tokens, but he has yet to announce if it can add the cryptocurrency to its payment options.

AMC CEO explained the decision as a result of his stint on the board of Centricus Acquisition Corp, a contractor for the blockchain company Arquit. And yes, the Reddit meme stock frenzy played a role – Aron is aware that many of AMC’s recently added shareholders are “quite enthusiastic” about cryptocurrencies. He’s hoping the tech enthusiasts who pumped up his company’s stock value will be frequent customers, to put it another way.

Whether or not this is a sustainable idea is another matter. Gizmodo notes that crypto transaction fees can be steep, and you might pay a premium for that already expensive soda. The volatility of cryptocurrency remains a problem, too. The Bitcoin you spend on tickets one day could be worth enough to rent a whole theater just a few months later. AMC would have to figure out how to ride that uncertainty without damaging its bottom line.