AMC Theaters’ app will now let you buy tickets and concessions using Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, the company’s CEO Adam Aron announced via Twitter on Friday. The company added support for the cryptocurrencies through a Bitpay integration, after saying in November that it was “exploring” how to accept the coins.
Paying for popcorn and tickets using Doge is relatively simple — you go through the normal process for selecting your seat and adding any concessions you want, then select Bitpay as your payment method. From there, you can connect your crypto wallet (it supports a ton of them, including Coinbase) or get an address where you can send your chosen cryptocurrency to complete the purchase. (As I was writing this, a matinee screening of Sonic 2 and a large popcorn / drink combo cost 213.539627 DOGE or 1,204,739.704740 SHIB.)
Exactly as promised, the AMC mobile app for AMC’s U.S. theatres now accepts online payments using Doge Coin, Shiba Inu, and other crypto currencies — thanks to Bitpay. Also Apple Pay, Google Pay and Paypal. To do so, you first will need to update to the latest version of our app. pic.twitter.com/MMy7SIxYbl
— Adam Aron (@CEOAdam) April 15, 2022
Bitpay also supports cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, but AMC has let movie-goers buy tickets with those for a few months now through PayPal. Given what other organizations (like Wikipedia) have said about how many people actually end up paying with crypto, it seems unlikely that this integration will end up being a gold mine for AMC. It’s always possible the meme stock crowd could be really into it, but even Tesla stopped selling cars using Bitcoin after just over a month (citing environmental concerns), so I wouldn’t hold my breath. But hey, maybe it’ll work out better than investing in a literal gold mine — something AMC actually did in a move one analyst called “embarrassingly stupid.”