AMC, the world's largest cinema chain, will accept Bitcoin payments by the end of the year

Adam Aron, CEO of AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AMC), the largest cinema chain in the United States, said today in a second-quarter earnings call that by the end of 2021, the cinema chain will configure an IT system to accept cryptocurrencies as a payment method, and discount tickets ordered online will also support Bitcoin payments.

The world's largest theater chain is looking for new ways to boost sales as it tries to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

As of the end of June, all 593 AMC theaters in the United States were open.

Aron also said the company will also begin accepting Apple Pay and Google Pay.Many new retail investors are enthusiastic about cryptocurrencies.

This afternoon, Aron held a conference call with thousands of investors after AMC released its second-quarter financial results, laying out ten new initiatives and answering a series of questions, including whether the company would invest in drive-in theaters, consumer products sold in theaters, or even movie production. He noted that it is expensive to make movies and urged retail investors to support the company's efforts to sell more stock and raise cash for big movies.

AMC's stock price has soared in 2021 as it has become one of the most popular stocks on the Wall Street Bets forum. Since the beginning of the year, AMC's stock price has risen 1,581%. Meanwhile, Bitcoin has also performed well this year, setting a record high of nearly $64,000 per coin; after the sell-off in the past few months, the price of Bitcoin today reached $46,108.

AMC reported a loss of $344 million in the March-June period, better than the $440 million loss Wall Street analysts had expected in the second quarter. Like all other theater chains, AMC has been hit hard over the past 18 months as the pandemic halted blockbuster releases and kept moviegoers out of theaters.

Aron said AMC is “not out of the woods yet” in weathering the impact of the pandemic, but he “can imagine a happy Hollywood ending to this story.”