AMC To Accept Bitcoin And Crypto For Payment, Are NFT Commemorative Tickets Next?

One of the hottest 2021 stocks has been AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC. The stock has gained favor with a loyal community that sees a strong recovery coming for the movie theater company. CEO Adam Aron may have brought in new fans and investors with an openness to accept several cryptocurrencies for payment.

What Happened: Aron announced this week that AMC Entertainment Holdings will accept Bitcoin BTC/USD, Ethereum ETH/USD, Litecoin LTC/USD and Bitcoin Cash BTC/USD transactions as payment.

The announcement came after Aron said on the second quarter earnings call that the movie theater company would accept Bitcoin payments by the end of the year.

Aron’s announcement ruffled some feathers in the Dogecoin DOGE/USD community, as no announcement has been made to accept the popular meme cryptocurrency at the theaters yet.

Related Link: 5 Things You Might Not Know About AMC CEO Adam Aron 

NFTs Next?: Many companies have been seeking ways to get more involved with cryptocurrencies to take advantage of rising interest and valuations and also potential new customer bases.

The rise of non-fungible tokens is another area many companies are exploring to see if there are ways to diversify their businesses.

DraftKings Inc DKNG, PLBY Group PLBY and Funko Inc FNKO are among the well-known companies that have dipped their toes into the NFT market.

Aron told CNBC in early September that the company was exploring NFTs as a way to grow the business.

“There are some ideas that have surfaced,” Aron said.

The CEO indicated that adding NFTs to the business model could create “real value” for AMC investors and the company.

“One of the ones I particularly love is to make commemorative movie tickets as an NFT.”

Aron told CNBC that it could be a “really smart idea” to launch movie ticket NFTs as the movie chain has 50 to 100 big releases in theaters a year.

The move could make NFTs “mean something for us and customers,” Aron added. The launch of NFTs could drive the business going forward.

CNBC Fast Money member Guy Adami liked the idea of NFTs from AMC and its CEO while brushing aside talk of a short squeeze in the stock.

“I respect that,” Adami said of a potential NFT launch.

The open mindedness from Aron is a reason for bullishness, Adami added.

While Adami doesn’t love the current AMC business model, he highlighted that he likes how Aron could be skating to where the puck might be going, referencing a famous quote from NHL great Wayne Gretzky.

Price Action: AMC shares were trading at $44.09 on Friday. Shares have traded between $1.91 and $72.62 over the last 52 weeks.

Disclosure: Author is long shares FNKO.