Dogecoin started its life as little more than a meme currency, but thanks to exposure from Elon Musk over the past year, it has quickly attracted many new investors of all ages. Now, even giant entertainment corporations like AMC are taking it seriously. Last month, company CEO Adam Aron polled Twitter users to ask whether AMC should explore supporting Dogecoin as a payment method, and the responses were overwhelmingly positive.
Unlike the currency itself, Aron's Dogecoin poll wasn't a meme. It was serious business, and as of Tuesday, AMC began allowing customers to purchase up to $200 worth of digital gift cards per day using the Shiba-branded coin.
If you want to take advantage of this, the process is relatively simple. Just snag the BitPay browser extension or one of its two mobile apps -- ordinary BitPay or BitPay Checkout (for purchases at physical AMC locations) -- and link your wallet. If you don't have a BitPay wallet, you can create one here. Once you've done that, buying gift cards is as easy as pulling up the corresponding app or extension and choosing the company you want a gift card for.
To be clear, Dogecoin isn't the only crypto you can use with BitPay, and AMC is still working on a more direct way for theatergoers to snag tickets with their digital coins. So, if this (understandably) seems like a relatively inconsequential move, just keep that in mind -- bigger things are coming down the pipeline, and this is just the first step of hopefully many.
Though once seen as a silly waste of money, cryptocurrencies are growing in popularity by the day, now becoming a household name and investment opportunity for thousands (if not millions). Even entire countries have publicly backed crypto, such as El Salvador, which is now using its state-owned geothermal power plants to mine Bitcoin.
We'll keep an eye on AMC's crypto progress over the coming months, and let you know if any new developments come to light.
