Crypto-loving Swifties, rejoice: you can use cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and Shiba Inu (SHIB) to buy tickets to the eagerly awaited film “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” which debuts today in theaters across the world.
The movie, which has already raked in a stunning $100 million in presales—all before even premiering—documents Swift’s ongoing, record-shattering worldwide concert tour, which itself is projected to generate over $5 billion worth of economic activity in North America alone.
The film’s crypto tie-in comes courtesy of crypto payment service provider BitPay, which launched a partnership with the theater chain AMC early last year. Moviegoers now need only access AMC via the chain’s website or mobile app, and select BitPay as a payment method upon checkout. In addition to BTC, ETH, DOGE, and SHIB, users are able to purchase tickets with other cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and XRP.
AMC has played a key role in the “Eras” film’s much-hyped saga. In a potentially precedent-setting move, the theater chain negotiated directly with Swift to secure the film’s release in its theaters, cutting Hollywood studios—which typically handle film distribution—out of the deal. Swift is now set to receive a whopping 57% of all ticket sale revenue from the movie, an unheard-of haul for creative talent.
The film is widely anticipated to resuscitate the sagging movie box office, which, amidst concurrent strikes by the Hollywood writers’ and actors’ guilds this summer, has struggled mightily to attract filmgoers in the period since studio tentpoles “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” electrified theaters in July.
If a substantial number of “Eras” ticket buyers opt in for crypto payments, the film may create an interesting and potentially unprecedented scenario, given its unique distribution setup. As Swift stands to receive such a substantial portion of ticket sales directly, the star singer now could potentially gain—or lose—any amount of profit based on the ever-shifting whims of the crypto market.
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