Basic Attention Token wallet

BAT entered the scene just before the height of the 2017 ICO mania, with the Brave/BAT ICO raking in $35 million in May 2017 in a mere 30 seconds. BAT is the native token of the increasingly popular Brave Browser, with the token designed to upend the current advertising model of the web using a micropayment system for supporting content creators and websites.

Users of the Brave Browser can be rewarded directly in BAT for viewing optional advertisements. Similarly, users can set automated payments to websites that they visit based on their attention spent on them. Other uses of BAT include online tipping for content creators and social media platforms.

Brandon Eich, who is the CEO of Brave Browser, is also the creator of the popular programming language JavaScript and co-founder of both Mozilla and Firefox. His vision for Brave and BAT is to provide a blockchain-based payment system for an Internet browser with an emphasis on privacy that reduces the adverse consequences of online advertising.

BAT’s Role Within Brave Browser

Brave Browser has rapidly gained traction among web users, recently surpassing 20 million downloads . The ad-blocking features and privacy-centric narrative of Brave have made it an ideal alternative to the likes of Google Chrome, where ad trackers invade user privacy, slow down web browsing, and reduce publisher revenue via intermediaries.

The Brave Browser blocks ads and trackers automatically, and the company Brave does not actually have access to identifiable user data to sell to third-parties. According to Brave:

“The anonymized aggregated ad campaign related data we do collect is used for accounting and reporting, but this data cannot be mapped back to devices or user identities of any kind.” The BAT functions within the browser as an incentive for users to view specifically approved ads by Brave in return for the ERC-20 token. The wallet for BAT is built directly into the browser, and parameters such as auto-contribute and percentages allocated to different websites based on user attention can be adjusted.

Brave’s long-awaited promise of receiving BAT for viewing ads went live in April and enables users to select ads for viewing as another method for supporting publishers -- outside of the auto-contribute option for BAT to website publishers in the BAT wallet.

Importantly, even though users can opt to view ads, trackers are still blocked to protect user privacy.

Brave’s ad and tracker blocking also make the browser faster than its competitors. According to Brave, their browser can load news sites 2 to 8 times faster than Chrome or Safari, and data trackers from website advertisements often come at the expense of both financials (i.e., in data charges) and privacy.

Better Privacy, BAT, and a New Advertising Model

Eich’s vision to disrupt the traditional advertising model has caused friction with existing browser firms and many advertisers. For example, Brandon Eich sued Google last year, viewed as a test case against the digital advertising model’s controversial consumption of user data.

Brave’s initiative towards a better privacy model for online browsers has put them in the spotlight and attracted many users who have become disillusioned with the data impropriety of large tech firms. To further supplement privacy, Brave even supports ‘private tabs’ and has native Tor support for advanced levels of browsing privacy.

Moving forward, Brave hopes that BAT will become the fuel for a new ecosystem of digital advertising that is more transparent and rewards content creators, advertisers, and publishers more fairly without sacrificing user privacy.