Adam Aron – CEO of AMC Theatres – revealed that cryptocurrencies and other digital payment methods accounted for more than a third of the online payments for the company during Q1, 2022. The largest movie theatre chain in the world accepts several digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Dogecoin, and Shiba Inu.
AMC’s Decision to Embrace Crypto Labeled a Success
Last year, the entertainment firm jumped into the digital asset ecosystem by allowing customers to purchase tickets through all the US-based theatres in bitcoin. A month later, it expanded the offering, adding Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash. Earlier this year, AMC Theatres enabled clients to make online payments for tickets using two of the most popular memecoins – Dogecoin and Shiba Inu.
During a Q1 2022 earnings call, CEO Adam Aron revealed that cryptocurrencies and digital settlement methods formed approximately 35% of the entity’s online payments during the first quarter of the year:
“Taken together, these various new payment options, impressively, recently represented about 35% of our total online payments.”
In addition, Aron disclosed that AMC marked a significant improvement during this period compared to Q1, 2021, fueled mainly by the decreasing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Total revenue grew from $148.3 million to $785.7 million, while net loss decreased from $567.2 million to $337.4 million.
AMC announced 1st quarter 2022 earnings today. Revenues up 5-fold vs. Q1 of 2021. EBITDA loss reduced by 80%. Revenues per patron up 34% over 2019 pre-pandemic. Dr Strange opening was the biggest of 2022, and the 2nd biggest in the last two years! Go see it! Congrats @Disney.
— Adam Aron (@CEOAdam) May 10, 2022
AMC and NFTs
The CEO further revealed that the entertainment company has eight programs involving non-fungible tokens. Those have either been launched over the past several months or will be introduced at some point in the future.
Such a project was AMC Theatres’ decision to offer 86,000 digital collectibles to early buyers of the latest Spider-Man film last year. The NFTs were in 100 different designs while the company promised they were “eco-friendly” built on the WAX blockchain.
The initiative created massive enthusiasm among film fans. Aron disclosed that customers were rushing to buy tickets for “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” becoming the second-biggest one-day move ticket sales in AMC’s history. The record belongs to “Avengers: Endgame.”