Joining the latest in a crowd of merchants to accept various cryptocurrencies as direct forms of payment, AMC Theaters has announced that they will soon begin accepting Bitcoin for online orders. Not only does AMC plan to accept Bitcoin, but they also have indicated that customers can use Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin. This is in addition to their acceptance of Google Pay, Apple Pay, and PayPal, and CEO Adam Aron also stated that they have plans to roll out Dogecoin purchases in the near future as well.
There is not currently a timeline for any cryptocurrency to be accepted for in person transactions at any AMC Theater location, but customers can easily purchase both tickets and concessions through AMC’s website and even designate a specific pickup person. Aron is positioning AMC to uniquely capitalize on the greater acceptance of crypto payments across the board. The instant transaction feature enables customers to even purchase their concessions while in line within the theater itself which is effectively the equivalent of an in person transaction.
Joining An Ever-Growing Crowd
With this addition, AMC Theaters will join the likes of Overstock, AT&T, Newegg, and Microsoft’s Xbox store who all accept crypto as payment. Retail giant Walmart even has plans to install Bitcoin ATMs in thousands of stores across the United States. This is in addition to the 36% of small to medium sized businesses that have reported their acceptance of Bitcoin as payment throughout the US.
Like AMC, many of these retailers do not accept direct payment in the form of cryptocurrency but instead instantly convert the customer’s crypto of choice into the US dollar equivalent. Technicalities aside, this does not actually change the process for the customer and simply streamlines things on the accounting side for the retailer. They end up paying a processing fee to a payment vendor like Bakkt or Flexa, but this allows instant conversion of crypto to cash for payment. Companies from Starbucks and Burger King all the way to Whole Foods and Wyndham Resorts accept cryptocurrency payments using these methods.
Driving Force Behind the Change
CEO Adam Aron has acknowledged that his recent interest stems from research related to his position on the board of directors of Centricus. As an acquisition firm, Centricus has been investigating startups working with blockchain related technology. In doing his due diligence in that position, Aron came up with the unique idea of accepting Bitcoin for payment at AMC Theaters. This leaves AMC as the only major US theater chain currently planning on accepting cryptocurrency payments.
This is an interesting way to capitalize on the recent attention AMC stock received. Investors who participated in the certain message boards driving the price changes are highly likely to also be active investors in the cryptocurrency space. As the only major theater chain with plans to accept any form of crypto, AMC can use this press to drive them back into profitability despite the challenges of conducting business during pandemic restrictions.
