Cinema operator AMC plans to accept BTC by 2022

AMC chairman and CEO Adam Aron revealed the American cinema giant is looking to accept Bitcoin payments for movie tickets in response to customer demand.

American cinema operator AMC Entertainment is aiming to accept Bitcoin (BTC) payments for movie tickets by 2022.

Speaking during a Monday conference call regarding the firm’s Q2 results announced earlier the same day, AMC chairman and CEO Adam Aron revealed that the cinema chain intends to have the infrastructure ready to accept BTC payments for online movie tickets by the end of 2021.

While details regarding AMC’s plan to accept Bitcoin are scant, Aron reported strong demand for buying movie tickets with crypto from the firm’s customers.

AMC’s Q2 results showed significant improvements compared to last year, reporting $444 million in revenue compared to Q2 2020’s $18.9 million in revenue. Net losses also declined from $561 million or $5.38 per share to $349 million or $0.71 per share year-over-year.

Along with adopting BTC payments, AMC also announced plans to open more than a dozen locations across the United States, Europe and the Middle East this year.

The chairman also made the unlikely claim that he had first learned about crypto assets after being elected to the board of Centricus Acquisition on May 6 — one week before Centricus acquired blockchain technology firm Arqit.

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AMC’s impressive Q2 results come just one year after the firm appeared destined for bankruptcy, with the cinema operator being forced to close venues as the global coronavirus pandemic spread.

Amid the pandemic, notorious Reddit-based pump-and-dump group r/Wallstreetbets converged on AMC shares to drive a 900% gain in its stock during January. According to data from TradingView, the price of AMC stock is up 1,200% year-to-date after rallying from roughly $2.60 to $34 as of this writing.