A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding Brave Browser and BAT

Brave browser is built to give users the long-overdue better internet experience by ensuring fast, private, and secure browsing. It blocks ads and trackers and rewards users for choosing to view privacy-respecting ads using their Brave Rewards feature.

Brave uses Basic Attention Token (BAT) as in-house crypto token to connect and reward users, publishers, and advertisers on its platform.

BAT is an Ethereum blockchain-based or decentralized platform that is transforming digital advertising into a transparent ads exchange medium. Through BAT token, users publishers and advertisers on the Brave browser can connect directly in a decentralized manner and be rewarded for their effort.

By blocking annoying ads and background trackers that you aren’t even aware of while browsing, Brave ensures you can safely surf the internet at warp speeds. It is faster than popular browsers, including Chrome, Firefox Safari, and Badu, and is available for PC and mobile phones.

Brave was launched in 2015 by Founder and CEO Brian Brendan Eich, who is also the former CEO at Mozilla and creator of JavaScript, together with co-developer and CTO Brian Bondy. The developer team also includes Security and Privacy expert Yan Zhu and BAT smart contracts and economics expert, Scott Lockin.

Eliminating the Digital Marketing Middlemen, the Blockchain Way

There is no fraud, no tracking, and no third parties with Brave digital advertising. In Fact, it has been referred to in the past as the next generation smart browser that rewards users and enhances their experience while at the same time taking down the menace that is the current digital advertising industry.

Digital advertising has taken over the world, with over 30% of the world’s population having an online presence in more than two platforms. Social media platforms are bombarded with ads, making it a nuisance for users, nightmare for publishers, and a hit or miss affair for advertisers.

Today the reality of using centralized servers is that on the internet, the privacy, resources, and even the dignity of users are abused. Content publishers, on the other hand, are overwhelmed while advertisers can’t be sure they will get quality for their money.

While both advertisers and publishers benefit when a user watches an advertisement, the user rarely gets anything out of it. Most of the time, even if indirectly, it actually costs the user to watch an ad.

The exploitation goes even further, with publishers collecting users’ data and using or selling it, without the consent of the user, to produce more personalized ads for targeting them and predicting consumer trends. This represents a major violation of user privacy and personal information.

Get Value for Your Attention with Brave

Blockchain technology is looking to transform every industry for the better. Many industries today, despite the current digital revolution, are using archaic models and are in dire need of a better way, a digital transformation.

Basic Attention Token helps users to monetize their attention while watching advertisements. This way, everyone gets paid; users choose to watch ads, advertisers get more honest feedback, and publishers are motivated to produce quality content.

All this magic happens inside Brave, where privacy and safety are paramount. Instead of being bombarded with unwanted advertisements, users are free to choose what ads they want to watch and get paid after doing so.

In regions where Brave Ads are available, users get Brave Rewards for viewing ads. They can also make extra money by choosing to view Brave native ads. Referrals also earn extra BAT, if they refer Brave to people who download, install, and use it for a month or more.

Content publishers get tipped when they join the Brave publisher program. Users can also tip or send a monthly contribution to their favorite content publishers.

Brave creator estimated by 2020, users would be able to earn more than $200 a year from viewing ads. 70% of revenue generated from ads goes to users, while Brave takes only 30%.

BAT tokens can be used on the network to support content creators or can be transferred and converted into fiat or other digital currencies through Uphold.

Brave Is Open Source, User-Friendly and Streamlined For Optimal User Experience

Chrome lovers will especially love the Brave browser, as it based on chromium just like chrome, and if not for a few website compatibility preferences, the Brave browser offers a great browsing experience.

Chromium is part of the chromium open source projects on which Google chrome and Google Chrome OS are based on. It is built to provide a much more stable, safer, and faster browsing experience for its users.

The brave ad-block feature helps users to save on their data plan, time, and money by constantly blocking ads that slow down the connection and serve spamming and unwanted advertisements.

Its modern, streamlined interface is easy to use and facilitates a smooth transition from other browsers. Users can choose to import cookies, bookmarks, and other details during installation.

Apart from a few websites that prefer specific browsers for compatibility reasons, Brave can easily be any user’s default web browser for that fast, safe, and private browsing experience.

How to Buy and Store BAT

BAT is listed on more than ten crypto exchanges, including prominent exchanges like Binance, Binance US, Coinbase Pro, Shapeshift, Huobi, Kraken, Bithumb, and Bitfinex.

You can opt to buy BAT using fiat currency on exchanges like Kraken. The process is rather lengthy, but you can buy BAT with USD. Alternatively, you can buy another cryptocurrency with fiat money and exchange it for BAT.

After buying BAT from an exchange, it is safer to move into a private wallet rather than leave them on the crypto exchange, unless you’re planning to trade soon. Exchanges, even though they are based on blockchain technology, use a centralized mode of operation, which is more susceptible to hacking and puts your tokens at a greater risk.

Therefore, the best way to store your BAT is to use a private hot or cold wallet. The brave browser offers users their own hot storage wallet, Crypto Wallet, which stores various cryptocurrencies, including BAT and ETH.

Closing Remarks

In conclusion, it is important to note that while the Brave Browser is available worldwide, Brave rewards are currently only available in the U.S., Canada, UK, and France. However, the Brave team promises to avail Brave ads and rewards in other geographical locations as well.

Subscribing to BAT is completely optional, and users can still use their Brave wallets to store other cryptocurrencies, once Uphold has verified them.

Featured image courtesy of Shutterstock.

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