AMC is a popular stock among individual investors.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
Movie-theater chain AMC Entertainment Holdings will broaden its crypto horizons beyond Bitcoin, moving to accept three other types of digital tokens for online ticket and concession payments by the end of the year.
AMC CEO Adam Aron confirmed the decision in a post on Twitter addressed to “cryptocurrency enthusiasts” late Wednesday, saying that Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash —a derivative of the leading crypto—would be accepted in addition to Bitcoin.
AMC (ticker: AMC) stock was down 0.8% in premarket trading Thursday. Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 futures were close to flat.
The price of Ethereum was up more than 6% over the past 24 hours to above $3,630, with Litecoin lifting 3.8% to $190. Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash appeared little moved by the news, with the former up slightly to near $47,800 and the latter down 0.5% to below $641.
Aron had previously announced that AMC would begin accepting Bitcoin for payments by the end of 2021 during the company’s latest quarterly earnings call, in August. It’s just the latest company to feed the wider acceptance of cryptocurrencies.
Payments groups PayPal (PYPL) and Square (SQ) gave their users the ability to buy, sell, and store Bitcoin last year, as well as use the cryptocurrency for transactions. PayPal allows users to do the same with Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash.
And electric-vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA) moved to accept Bitcoin for payments earlier this year, before CEO Elon Musk walked back the decision over concerns around crypto mining’s environmental impact.
AMC’s move does represent an incremental step toward Bitcoin’s wider acceptance. For crypto bulls, that is a good, albeit small development.
But it’s also impossible to ignore the smell of memes. AMC stock became a favorite among individual investors—many based on the social media site Reddit’s community WallStreetBets—earlier this year.
Enthusiastic, meme-fueled traders poured into the shares, which had been heavily shorted, pushing the price higher. AMC stock has climbed more than 2,230% so far this year, up from around $2 a share to near $47.
AMC’s move to accept more digital tokens—which have a strong following from people with a similar, gung-ho attitude to WallStreetBets—will likely be cheered by AMC’s loyal retail investor following as much as by the crypto crowd. Just imagine if AMC also accepted Dogecoin.
Write to Jack Denton at [email protected]
