AMC to accept bitcoin as payment by end of 2021

Theater chain AMC said Tuesday it will accept bitcoin, along with Apple Pay and Google Pay, for payment by the end of 2021.

AMC Chairman and CEO Adam Aron said on an earnings call Tuesday that the company will have the technology in place to accept virtual payments, including through the popular cryptocurrency by year’s end. He also said that the company would be “exploring how else AMC can participate in this new burgeoning cryptocurrency universe.”

“We’re quite intrigued by potentially lucrative business opportunities for AMC if we intelligently pursue further serious involvement with cryptocurrency. More detail will be shared publicly with you but only if, as and when our plans are more firm,” Aron said.

AMC’s announcement marks a milestone for both the company’s revival and bitcoin’s prominence, each of which took off early this year thanks in part to the emergence of viral investing.

AMC was one of several struggling companies championed by members of the Reddit subforum WallStreetBets, which helped the firm’s stock price skyrocket in the beginning of 2021. One share of AMC traded for roughly $31 on Tuesday afternoon, up more than 600 percent from its closing price of less than $5 a year ago.

Bitcoin also skyrocketed in value through much of the year, hitting a record high just short of $64,000 in April before gradually falling to roughly $46,000 as of Tuesday. 

The theater chain is one of several companies to begin accepting bitcoin for payments. Tesla also accepted payment in bitcoin earlier this year until CEO Elon Musk hit the brakes, citing the potential environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining.