As promised in September this year, AMC has announced it will be accepting cryptocurrency payments through its online access points for tickets and other goods. A novel development for the movie industry overall, for sure. We asked Brandon Blake, entertainment attorney at Blake & Wang P.A, for further details.
A range of cryptocurrencies
Acceptable cryptocurrencies include Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash, alongside ever-popular Bitcoin and Ethereum. This comes alongside the introduction of PayPal, Google Pay, and Apple Pay as acceptable options as well. Apparently, plans are in place to further extend the range of acceptable cryptocurrencies, with even troll-currency Dogecoin to possibly be onboarded at some point. This in itself can be seen as rather ironic, as we have the company that became the first meme stock become a leader in the push to take the original meme coin seriously.
In the first week since the announcement, they have reportedly seen 14% of online payments use the new payment methods. While there’s no official breakdown of the numbers, we can only assume the majority of that comes from the payment services and not the crypto, which some investors see as a bit of a gimmick. Perhaps we are wrong, however.
Reinvention after the meme stock rebirth
AMC was extended a most unusual lifeline on the brink of bankruptcy last year, as an ‘army’ of day traders sent the stock soaring instead of allowing its manipulated demise. While some businesses would shy away from the ‘meme stock’ status this has earned, the AMC CEO, Adam Aron, has embraced it, even floating the notion of the company offering its own cryptocurrency and NFTs both.
Is this unusual move a serious part of the plan to bounce back from the company’s financial problems? While that remains to be seen, it’s an interesting move, and one we will follow closely.
Film and Television 