AMC Remains Persistent on Accepting Cryptocurrencies Payments in its Theatres Soon

Earlier on Monday, in an earnings call, AMC Entertainment Holdings CEO Adam Aron said that AMC would start accepting Bitcoin as payments for online tickets and concessions by the end of 2021.

And in a later tweet on Wednesday, the AMC CEO stated that the cinema chain would start accepting Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash on top of Bitcoin. Since these are online purchases, they would apply to AMC theatres across the United States.

Adam Aron further stated that AMC’s IT employees wrote the theatre chain’s code to accept Apple’s Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Crypto Foray Caps Great Year for AMC

Related: Fast Food Pioneers McDonald’s and Pizza Hut to Accept BTC Payments in El Salvador

AMC Entertainment Holdings owns the world’s largest cinema chain with over 10,000 screens in 978 theatres in Europe and the United States. The company’s shares were huge beneficiaries of the meme-stock frenzy earlier this year and are up an astounding 2,100% to date. The shares have, however, slumped 15% over the past three months.

The Leawood-based company has taken advantage of its rising share price and raised $1.24 billion in new equity capital. It has boosted its liquidity to more than $2 billion, including cash and revolving credit lines.

In April of this year, it launched an at-the-market equity program selling 43 million shares and raising $427.5 million. In June, it raised another $587.4 million through the selling of 11.55 million shares.

AMC’s foray into the crypto universe adds to a steadily growing list of brands running smaller tests accepting cryptocurrency payments in localized markets. Still, AMC will bring it to its 620 theatres across the United States. Companies like PayPal Holdings Inc and Square Inc have been blazing the trail in cryptocurrency acceptance.

Other companies that have joined the crypto bandwagon include the American fast-food franchise Quiznos, who announced that they would accept Bitcoin for sandwiches in specific markets. At the same time, Burger King Brazil also recently said that it would accept payments in the Shiba Inu-inspired meme currency, Dogecoin.

More Companies Join The Crypto Universe

Earlier this year, Tesla Inc announced it would accept bitcoin for payments but later halted those plans after Tesla CEO Elon Musk raised concerns about crypto mining’s effects on global energy usage.

In other news, Dash Shaw’s award-winning animated fantasy film, “Crypto Zoo“, is available in theatrical release and on VOD in the United States through Magnolia Pictures. At the Sundance Film Festival, the feature debuted on January 29, 2021, winning the “Next Innovator’s Award”.

The movie follows a group of crypto zookeepers through a hallucinatory world. They attempt to capture a legendary dream-eating creature called a Baku and send it to a haven for rare beasts where they are protected from weaponization by the U.S. military.

The adult animated adventure with themes of inclusion was started in 2016 by Dash Shaw and his wife, Jane Samborski, taking almost five years to complete. It features the voice talents of Lake Bell, Michael Cera, Angeliki Papoulia, and Alex Karpovsky.