BAT Tokens and Brave: A Browser That Helps You Earn Crypto?

A token, otherwise known as a “cryptocurrency” or “crypto asset,” is a trading asset that also serves various functions in the context of a network. Within the cryptocurrency industry, the concept of tokens became more well-known after Ethereum was created. Before deciding whether to invest in the Ethereum-based Basic Attention Token, it’s helpful to understand the tokenomics behind it.

Tokenomics, a term that combines the words “token” and “economics,” is the study of tokens. It tells us the factors that need to be considered before investing, and helps us understand how crypto supply and demand works. Now, let’s learn more about the Basic Attention Token.

What Is a Basic Attention Token?

A Basic Attention Token (BAT) is a cryptocurrency/token that aims to level the playing field in the digital advertising landscape. BAT was created by Brendan Eich, the creator of JavaScript and co-founder of the Mozilla project. Built on the Ethereum blockchain, BAT is integrated natively into a custom web browser called Brave.

Source: Blockgeeks

The BAT token is used as a currency on the Brave web browser and is exchanged between users, advertisers and publishers. Intended to improve advertising in the digital world, it’s based on user attention, which is essential for advertising companies operating in the digital age.

The developers of BAT believe that tracking user interaction with the digital content and storing that data in a distributed ledger will help improve advertising experiences for Brave users, advertisers and publishers. Users will gain the advantages of privacy, and advertisements which are better aligned with their interests. Publishers will find a new source of revenue in the form of BAT tokens. Finally, advertisers will be able to target their audiences efficiently, based on preferred interests, and avoid fraud since blockchain helps improve security levels for users.

What Is the Brave Browser?

Brave is an open-source web browser developed by the creators of Brave software. It‘s available on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS and Linux. Brave automatically blocks online advertisements and website trackers to maintain the privacy of its users. Of the three major players in the digital advertising industry, the person watching the advertisement is a user, the person whose advertisement is showing is the publisher, and the person who created the advertisement is the advertiser.

Source: Blockgeeks

The advertiser sells the publisher’s product to earn a commission. The publisher gets an audience to make a sale for their product or service. While the users don’t have any specific incentives for watching the advertisement, they get free content based on their interests, potentially leading them to make a purchase. Generally, users don’t like to watch ads and would prefer to skip them if they have the option.

Brave welcomes you to the new advertising model, where your time is valued, data is safe and you’re rewarded for your attention. The Brave Reward is built on the Basic Attention Token which keeps track of frequently visited sites. Brave ads are enabled with Brave Rewards, enabling users to earn BAT every time they view an advertisement.

BAT Tokens

In this age of information, there’s no shortage of search engines such as Google and Bing, or social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Facebook had over 2.89 billion monthly active users in the second quarter of 2021, making it the world’s largest social networking site. Due to the enormous traffic on digital platforms, publishers and advertisers flock to social media and look for new ways to advertise digitally. Digital advertising’s popularity has surged significantly. In fact, in 2017, it surpassed television ads in the total amount of revenue collected.

In 2016, Google was the biggest winner in global advertising with $79 billion in revenue. However, using old browsers, we spend valuable time viewing ads and downloading invasive ad technology that transmits our private data to advertisers without our consent.

Brave web browser helps to resolve this problem by using Brave Shields to block all unnecessary ads and trackers by default Brave is a privacy-focused browser that values your time and allows you to earn BAT tokens for viewing ads on their platform. It anonymously measures user attention on different websites to improve the advertising experience. All data is encrypted, and Brave protects the identities of users.

Users can activate the ads feature on the Brave browser to get paid in Basic Attention Tokens for the time spent viewing ads. They can also activate the Brave Rewards feature, which will divide their chosen monthly BAT token contribution by analyzing the sites visited and the time spent on each website.

Source: Brave

To track the movements of BAT, Brave uses the Brave Ledger. It allows advertisers, publishers and users to enter into smart contracts to transfer payments to each other by using blockchain-based digital advertising. The Basic Attention Token enables an efficient advertising platform, which provides innovative opportunities for advertisers looking to reach their audiences. At the same time, users also receive a share of the ad revenue and the ability to tip their favorite content creators directly.

How to Get BAT Crypto Using the Brave Browser

You can receive BAT crypto by using the Brave browser to view ads. Users can earn revenue in the form of BAT by opting to view anonymous and privacy-preserving ads. Unlike with other browsers, these optional ads are displayed as push notifications instead of on the pages themselves.

The BAT earned on Brave is stored in a wallet built into the browser. The tokens can be traded for other cryptocurrencies and fiat currency. There are four ways you can earn Brave Rewards while browsing the internet using the Brave browser:

1. Watching ads: You can earn BAT by watching ads on the Brave web browser. After downloading Brave, activate the Brave ads by opening the Brave browser and clicking on the triangular BAT logo.

Source: Brave

Click on Rewards Settings, and under the ads section, click on Settings. Now, choose the maximum number of ads per hour for which to receive push notifications, based on your preferences.

Source: Brave

1. Installing Brave: New users can earn $5 worth of BAT by simply downloading and using the browser for 30 days. You may also get some random grants worth 25–40 BAT every month.
2. Content creator: If you’re a podcaster, blogger, YouTuber or band, Brave is an amazing opportunity to earn Brave Rewards by being a creator. Any creator can join Brave Rewards program. Users can send BAT tips directly to their favorite creators who are part of the Brave Rewards program. The creators’ followers can make a monthly donation, setting a monthly schedule to support their website or channel.

Source: Brave

Creators can add channels from the Brave Creator option by registering and clicking the “+” button. After verification, one can start receiving donations from other users.

1. Referring others: When new users sign up on the Brave web browser, they’re provided with a referral link. They can then use this link to refer to their friends or family and earn up to $7.50 worth of BAT.

To get a referral link, first download Brave and become a creator. The referral link is inside the creator’s dashboard. You just need to copy and paste the link, and it will automatically add BAT rewards into your “Uphold Wallet” if someone signs up using it. You can withdraw the tokens or convert them into Bitcoin. (Note: at the time of writing, signups for the referral program are on hold until further notice.)

What Is the Total Supply of BAT?

Basic Attention Token has a maximum total supply of 1.5 billion. This number cannot be increased without switching to a new token smart contract. The entire supply is currently in circulation. 

A total of 1 billion BAT tokens were sold to investors during the ICO held in 2017. Another 200 million tokens were locked in a development pool, while 300 million BAT were reserved for the User Growth Pool (UGP). By November 2020, both the development pool and UGP were almost empty. 

What Is the Price of a Basic Attention Token? 

Basic Attention Token price is influenced by many factors like project news, development progress, market sentiment, the flow of cryptocurrency on exchanges and the economy in general. At the time of writing, one Basic Attention Token costs $0.791966, and BAT has a 24-hour trading volume of $248,386,071. [Editor’s note: After the recent crypto downturn, the BAT price and volume are $0.6812 and just over 190 million, respectively.]

How to Get BAT Crypto 

Basic Attention Tokens can be traded on several popular cryptocurrency exchange platforms like Kraken, Gemini and others. BAT can be purchased directly using fiat or be traded against several cryptocurrencies. 

Brave shares 70% of its ad revenues with its users. To get BAT crypto, simply download the Brave browser and enable “Brave ads” to get notified about ads.

How Much BAT Can You Earn Using Brave?

Unfortunately, there isn’t a formula you can use to compute your BAT earnings. However, estimates suggest that users can earn up to $500 worth of BAT coins every month, depending on the individual’s surfing time and ad-viewing capacity. 

Noteworthy Features of Brave Browser

The Brave browser offers a number of cool and useful features. Here are the most noteworthy ones: 

Source: Google

• Fast browsing: Without ads and popups, Brave loads major news sites up to six times faster, thereby offering a better browsing experience.
• High privacy: The Brave browser doesn’t collect or store any of its users’ private information. It lets you use The Onion Router (Tor) directly in a tab that hides history and masks the user’s location from the sites visited. The Tor network anonymizes web traffic and protects your identity online.
• Earning: Enable Brave Rewards to earn BAT tokens for viewing privacy-respecting ads. Users can also support their favorite creators by giving them a tip in the form of BAT tokens.
• More secure: The vast bulk of websites try to identify users to interrupt privacy, but Brave browser blocks all these websites to provide a completely free browsing experience.
• Free to use: Brave browser is completely free. Users can download and use it without spending any money.

How to Withdraw BAT Coins from Brave

To withdraw your BAT tokens from the Brave browser, you’ll need to first sign up for an account on Uphold. Uphold is a digital money platform that allows users to buy, hold, send, receive and exchange various currencies seamlessly at a low fee. Using Uphold, users can exchange BAT for other cryptocurrencies or convert it to local currencies. Users simply need to create an account on Uphold and verify their identity with suitable proof. Once their identity has been verified, they can go to Rewards Settings to withdraw BAT from the Brave wallet by clicking on the Withdraw Funds button.

Is BAT a Good Investment? 

According to Wallet Investor, BAT is a risky asset that could nevertheless provide a good return on investment in the long run. BAT is a moderately good investment. as it has a high market cap of over $1 billion. Of course, factors such as market sentiment, the flow of cryptocurrency in exchanges, and the state of the economy also have to be taken into consideration.

BAT coin’s value was around $0.77 with a market capitalization of $1.1 billion as of June 2021. It’s ranked 74th by market cap with a maximum supply of 1.5 billion BAT.

Conclusion

BAT takes blockchain technology and applies it in a clever manner. If the Brave browser continues to provide a safe, secure and fast browsing experience, more people might recognize the value of BAT and we might see its price rise significantly.

However, as with other cryptocurrencies, it’s important to conduct thorough research before investing. Arguably the biggest challenge for investors, especially amateur ones, is to not make decisions based on hype alone.