AMC Cinemas Announces Plans To Accept Bitcoin in Payment for Movie Tickets and Popcorn

 

On September 15th, New York based AMC Cinemas announced its intention to accept payment from customers using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies by the end of 2021. The company’s CEO Adam Aron had this to say on Twitter:

Customers of the popular US cinema chain will soon be able to pay for movie tickets and snacks using Bitcoin and a variety of other cryptocurrencies as well as US dollars. It follows hot on the heels of the entire nation of El Salvador adopting Bitcoin as legal tender throughout the nation earlier this month.

It also follows a similar announcement from Walmart earlier in the week that suggested they’d start accepting payments in Litecoin — an announcement that was later exposed as fraudulent, if creatively and diligently executed as scams go.

So why now? What does AMC know that other businesses don’t?

Is this a shrewd business move, or simply a bid for publicity? Is it a desperate bid to keep themselves on top of the resurgent wave that’s seen their corporate fortunes improve throughout 2021 after their stock was pumped by the r/WallStreetBets crowd?

A blockbuster move?

The announcement may benefit AMC in various ways.

First and foremost it keeps the company in front of mind for its investors, the financial markets and customers alike. When Bitcoin became legal tender in El Salvador, social media was awash with posts from those who’d paid for coffee or breakfast using Bitcoin. Some customers and investors are attracted to novelty as much as anything else.

The cinema chain has had a record year financially, having witnessed its stock price soaring from $2 at the start of 2021 to over $62 in June. A significant factor in this growth was the ‘meme stock’ craze of early 2021 that saw struggling companies like AMC and GameStop having their stock price inflated significantly through the coordinated actions of private traders. Since this turn of fortune, the company has explored ways of maintaining public interest including offering free popcorn to its shareholders.

Accepting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies may well attract further investment from crypto enthusiasts who are usually keen to encourage the adoption of cryptocurrency within the general public.

This certainly happened when Tesla announced plans to accept Bitcoin in payment for vehicles — there were a flurry of posts on Twitter from those sharing screenshots of their vehicles ordered and paid for using Bitcoin. Conversely, when Elon Musk backtracked on accepting Bitcoin there were many orders petulantly cancelled too.

Finally, there’s the benefit for AMC of potentially accumulating a holding of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a means of diversifying its balance sheet.

Bitcoin itself is up by over 4,900% in the last five years, and has more than doubled in value in 2021. Many businesses, including MicroStrategy, Tesla and Square have invested some of their corporate reserves in Bitcoin as a means of hedging against inflation.

AMC might view this as a means of accumulating and holding cryptocurrency and potentially leveraging future increases in its price. Quite why the cinema chain has chosen to accept multiple cryptocurrencies rather than selecting one is yet to become clear. Maybe that’s about diversification and hedging their bets too? Maybe it’s a play for publicity and to win favour with multiple tribes in the crypto community — we can be a fickle and tribal bunch.

Early adopters

El Salvador adopting Bitcoin as legal tender demonstrates that entire nations can transition to accepting Bitcoin and cryptocurrency payments with ease, but for now AMC is an early adopter in the USA. It joins companies like PayPal and Square that have announced the facility for customers to conduct transactions in Bitcoin. Tesla continues to hold Bitcoin in its corporate reserves even though they keep flip-flopping over accepting it as payment — Elon Musk has recently hinted that they may start accepting it again.

The Oakland A’s Baseball team has also experimented with accepting Bitcoin in payment for suites at their home stadium. New York Giant Saquon Barkley has opted to be paid his future endorsements (worth over $10 million per year) in Bitcoin.

Such signs point to a gradual widening of adoption and acceptance of cryptocurrency in wider society and amongst corporations. They’re outliers at this point, but things have to start somewhere.

AMC may have sealed its place as a visionary for getting into crypto early, or maybe they’re just doing what they can to remain front of mind for consumers and investors, and taking whatever steps they can to get coverage in the media.

Either way, it will be interesting to see whether their plan becomes a reality and customers are able to pay for tickets and popcorn using Bitcoin.

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Note: This article is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered Financial or Legal Advice. Consult a financial professional before making any major financial decisions.

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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