by Conan Simmons – August 9, 2021 – 10:11 pm
Speaking to investors during a Q2 earnings call, CEO of AMC Theatres Adam Aron let it be known that by the end of this year AMC Theatres will be accepting the popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin as a legitimate form of payment. So get your digital wallets ready to buy movie tickets and popcorn this holiday season!
A firm date as to when AMC Theatres plans to implement their new payment option is yet to be revealed. According to CEO Adam Aron’s statement it is likely to happen in time for the holiday season, perhaps in November as the Thanksgiving holiday officially begins the end of year run for movies.
How much will it cost in Bitcoin?
That’s harder to figure out, for now, as the value of the world’s most famous cryptocurrency is very prone to extremely volatile fluctuations. As of this writing the value of 1 Bitcoin stands at $45,927.18 having gained $2,570 since start of day (and it just dropped 3 cents as I write this sentence). The good news is for all of you that are new to the world of cryptocurrency (and Bitcoin followers already know this), Bitcoin can actually be broken down into fragments much like the U.S. Dollar is broken down into pennies. In the case of Bitcoin these smaller units are called Satoshi’s, named after the mysterious and enigmatic creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, who invented Bitcoin in 2009 as a response to the global financial crisis the year prior. The mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto is a story unto itself, so let’s not get sidetracked right now and instead focus on AMC Theatre’s latest announcement.
Taking the amount quoted above for the value of Bitcoin that would make $20 U.S. Dollars worth around 0.00043547 Satoshi’s. Yes, you read that right. 1 Satoshi is the equivalent of 0.00000001 Bitcoin. Without getting into a long lesson in economics, Bitcoin was created with the intent to be used as a currency, much like the Dollar. Investors have since been using it as a store of value to rival gold which is where all the market volatility is coming from. To store Bitcoin you need a digital wallet which comes with a hash key, sort of like your username and password that you use for your debit or credit card, only the hash key is far more secure because it is built using Blockchain, a software technology that is the true reason behind the success of cryptocurrency and more. Again, that’s a story unto itself.
As AMC Theatres faced closures due to the pandemic since 2020 the theatre chain was saved from possible bankruptcy earlier this year after securing a debt loan with an assist of their stock price spiking in the controversial meme-stock rally that boosted many endangered companies, most notably GameStop. Hollywood currently has at least a half dozen film projects about the stock bonanza in development.
Perhaps this time next year you can pay with Bitcoin to see a movie about how retail stock traders used meme-stocks to save the AMC Theatre you’re sitting in?