AMC Accepts Dogecoin. Could It Soon Launch Its Own Crypto?

AMC’s stock price has soared this year on the back of the meme stock phenomenon, along with an increased focus on what its vocal social media fans demand—including accepting cryptocurrency payments. Now the movie theater chain may even be looking to roll out its own coin.

Adam Aron, CEO of AMC, told CNBC at today’s Milken Conference that the theater chain is exploring ways to "issue" its own cryptocurrency.

"There are a lot of reasons why AMC could be a successful issuer of cryptocurrency as well as a redeemer of cryptocurrency," Aron said. "That's just one of half a dozen ideas that we're working on right now."

CNBC’s footage doesn’t show further elaboration from the AMC head, so it’s unclear whether Aron offered any extended information about the firm’s ideas. Decrypt has reached out to AMC representatives for additional detail and comment.

AMC announced earlier this month that it is now accepting Dogecoin payments online for gift cards using BitPay, which provides payment processing for numerous retailers—including the merchandise shop for the Dallas Mavericks, owned by noted DOGE fan Mark Cuban.

Dogecoin’s price rose following the announcement, although the leading meme cryptocurrency has dropped slightly since then. As of now, Dogecoin sits at just over $0.24 per coin, up nearly 5% over the last seven days. It’s still down 66% from the all-time high above $0.73 set in May, per data from CoinGecko.

The firm previously revealed plans to accept Bitcoin payments by the end of the year for movie tickets and online concessions, and then added Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash to that list. Following social media prodding from Dogecoin fans, Aron held a Twitter poll that showed overwhelming demand for DOGE payment support as well.

AMC stock price has maintained a good chunk of the momentum established this spring, at a current price just under $40 a share—up more than 1,880% since the start of 2021. It’s down about a dollar per share on the day, however, as of this writing.