In brief
- AMC has given out free NFTs to more than 580,000 shareholders.
- The movie theater chain began accepting cryptocurrency payments last year.
Movie theater chain AMC has increasingly leaned into the world of cryptocurrency since the initial meme stock frenzy that sent its share price soaring about this time last year. Now the company has made good on its promise to reward shareholders with NFT collectibles.
Today, AMC deployed exclusive “I Own AMC” NFTs to the more than 580,000 shareholders who registered via AMC’s Investor Connect portal by the December 31 deadline. The NFTs were minted on WAX, a platform designed for high-volume applications such as large NFT drops and video games.
AMC previously utilized WAX for its recent collaboration with Sony Pictures, in which the companies distributed 86,000 NFTs to select people who purchased tickets to the film “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” Brands such as Mattel, Hasbro, Funko, and Atari have also used the WAX platform for NFT collectibles.
Emails detailing how to claim your AMC Investor Connect “I Own AMC” NFT will be sent next week on Jan 18, to all in the U.S. and globally who enrolled by 12/31/21. The NFT and a WAX wallet for up to a year are free to you. TY to our passionate shareholders. Own this NFT proudly! pic.twitter.com/veo5hSYCkr
— Adam Aron (@CEOAdam) January 13, 2022
According to AMC’s message to investors, the NFTs will be tradeable, but they also provide perks to holders—such as potential discounts and “other benefits.”
An NFT acts like a deed of ownership to a digital item, including collectibles, artwork, video files, and more. The NFT market ballooned over the course of 2021, generating $23 billion worth of trading volume, according to data from DappRadar. Leading marketplace OpenSea has already broken its single-month record for Ethereum NFT trading volume so far in January, topping $3.75 billion as of this writing.
Last year, the movie theater chain revealed plans to begin accepting cryptocurrency payments using a handful of coins, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash. It later added support for Dogecoin following a social media push from fans and investors.
In November, before activating Dogecoin payments, AMC CEO Adam Aron said that cryptocurrency already made up 14% of online payments for the company. AMC plans to add support for Shiba Inu, a popular Doge-inspired meme token as well.
Beyond accepting cryptocurrency payments and launching its own NFTs to shareholders, AMC has also explored the idea of launching its own AMC cryptocurrency or token.
“There are a lot of reasons why AMC could be a successful issuer of cryptocurrency as well as a redeemer of cryptocurrency,” Aron told CNBC in October. “That’s just one of half a dozen ideas that we’re working on right now.”
Source: https://decrypt.co/90673/dogecoin-friendly-amc-rewards-shareholders-free-nfts