US cinema chain AMC could further increase its exposure to the crypto world as it mulls launching its own cryptocurrency and partnering with Hollywood studios to release non-fungible tokens (NFTs) related to major movies, according to senior company representatives.
Adam Aron, the chain’s chief executive, discussed these plans during a call with investors on the occasion of AMC’s release of its results for the third quarter of 2021.
“This is the 21st century after all,” Aron said, as reported by Bloomberg.
AMC’s sales for the July-September period totaled USD 763.2m, exceeding the USD 708.3m average of analysts’ estimates. Nevertheless, the business posted a loss of USD 0.44 cents per share.
Its venture into crypto is designed to provide the chain with an additional source of revenue, complementing AMC’s reliance on the meme investors who have allowed the company’s stock to skyrocket more than 2,000% this year.
The company is encouraged by the results from the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2021, Aron said, as quoted in a statement. “Indeed, as we announced just a week ago, our October theater admissions revenues were the highest of any month since before the global pandemic forced the closure of our cinemas more than a year and a half ago,” he noted.
The CEO added that the company’s quarter-ending liquidity as of September 30, of more than USD 1.8bn, including cash and their undrawn revolving credit lines, “remains at near-record levels, and also gives us comfort.”
In late October, Aron tweeted that the chain’s IT department was in the process of writing code to allow online payments in cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), litecoin (LTC) and dogecoin (DOGE). The CEO also asked his followers whether AMC should start accepting such payments in shiba inu (SHIB), with a robust majority of 81% respondents backing such an option in an online poll that gathered some 153,100 votes.
With some 950 theaters and 10,500 screens across the world, AMC is one of the globe’s largest cinema chains.
Source: Cryptonews
