AMC boss says shiba inu is next on its 'hit parade' in figuring out how to take the crypto for payments

• AMC is exploring taking shiba inu as a currency after a Twitter poll backed the meme coin, CEO Adam Aron said Monday.
• The movie theater chain is on track to accept bitcoin and ethereum, and is working on dogecoin, he said on an earnings call.
• Aron confirmed AMC is looking into launching its own cryptocurrency and is talking to "third parties" about it.

AMC Entertainment is looking at adding shiba inu to the roster of cryptocurrencies it wants to accept, after listening to wishes of the SHIBarmy.

In a recent Twitter poll, CEO Adam Aron asked whether the movie theater chain should explore taking the meme token for online payments, and 81% backed the idea.

"A lot of you voted, and a lot of you voted yes, and we are now figuring out how we can take shiba inu as a currency," Aron said on an earnings call Monday.

"That's the next one on our cryptocurrency hit parade."

Thanks to the "SHIBarmy" - fervent fans of shiba inu - the dogecoin-inspired coin soared in price at the end of October, around when the Twitter poll went live. Its price has since retreated, but it is still up 102% over the last month, according to Coinbase data.

Its rise was propelled by developments such as the huge support shown in a petition urging Robinhood to list the token on its retail trading platform. Some market observers are cautious about shiba inu, given its limited use cases and the risk of its being a scam.

Social-media savvy Aron has embraced AMC's fame as a meme stock and appealed directly to the retail traders who propelled it higher at the height of the pandemic.

The company has already promised to accept bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and bitcoin cash for online payments before the end of the year in December. Aron said the chain was on track to meet that deadline, and it is encoding cryptocurrency for its mobile app and website right now.

"We think we'll be able to launch the acceptance of dogecoin in the first quarter of '22, just a few months from now - again, on our website and smartphone app," he said.

The US's largest cinema chain has already started listing dogecoin as a payment option for AMC gift cards.

Aron also gave an update on the idea of AMC issuing its own cryptocurrency, saying that in the past few months, it has been "exploring with third parties" whether it is feasible.

The CEO said the company believes it has figured out ways where it doesn't have to hold cryptocurrency on its balance sheet. "So we're not taking increased balance sheet risk with all this potential acceptance of cryptocurrency," he said.

The social-media savvy CEO has embraced AMC's fame as a meme stock and appealed directly to the retail traders who propelled it higher at the height of the pandemic. AMC shares were up more than 10% at $40.35 on Tuesday.