Brave is a web browser created by some of the minds that brought us Mozilla Firefox. It tries to give users a strong, privacy focused browser while giving advertisers a better pipeline for reaching consumers without breaching their privacy or through a middle-hand. It does this with the BAT ecosystem, is it working? Is it worth looking into? Let’s find out.
Background
BAT began with its browser, Brave. It was founded by Brendan Eich & Brian Bondy, both having worked on Mozilla Firefox and they got together to find a browser or remedy that would cut out the middlemen for online advertising and connect advertisers to users that actually pay attention. The name Eich might ring a bell if you're a programmer apart from his time as a CTO at Firefox, he is also the creator of javascript. The browser launched in 2016 with the token being implemented the year after.
This team caused a big stir and got many backers and when the token released 1.5 billion tokens were spread amongst private & public investors as well as some given to the company itself. it was used to help promote early adoption of the browser. A big change for the browser was in 2019 when they partnered with Uphold, thus allowing users to withdraw their BAT outside their browser instead of only spending it inside it on other users & supporting sites they liked. This caused a growing incentive for users to use the browser to make money from simply browsing the web. Earlier this month BRAVE also added Gemini as a secondary wallet option. The roadmap for the project is extensive and they are working on implementing several new features, the newest one in beta is the Brave search engine.
Network
BAT exists as a token on top of Ethereum, operating using the ERC-20 smart contracts to perform its on-chain actions. There is no consensus system for the token. Instead it relies on the underlying layer 1 proof-of-work consensus to keep the platform secure. BAT currently has more than 1.2 million active creators and the browser has over 11 million daily users. The browser removes ads (optionally) and allows advertisers to reach users through the BAT program where advertisers & users are given BAT for their attention. This has shown to be more effective at reaching audiences that normally would ignore ads as they keep their privacy.
For BAT, it is very centered around how the browser is performing and growing. The underlying browser itself is very solid, being a old fork from chronium (Chrome's OS) with enhanced features on security and privacy. The entire program with BAT is optional, less than 20% of active users actually are opted in to earn rewards. Still, the creators are exploring more ways to expand BAT's use cases which include:
- A Brave powered search engine
- A DEX for Brave
- Using BAT for transaction fees
- Rewards for holders of BAT
- A new ETH wallet in-browser
- Options to buy crypto with fiat directly in the browser
Use cases
Brave can be used as a less resource intensive chrome browser that can natively block ads and protect users' privacy. There is three different distinct use cases for BAT itself outside of the features for the browser.
Users can enjoy a better ad ecosystem and get rewarded for simply using a browser. This reward program incentives internet surfers to actually pay attention when an ad show up to get their reward.
Advertisers can pay to have their ads be shown to users of the Browser, at a smaller cost than going through a middle-hand and they have a higher chance of reaching the user.
Lastly, investors can see their money grow with the continuing use of the browser, sadly there is more practical use with this token rather than hoping it will increase in value.
Lastly-lastly content creators can also enter the creators program to get tips on Twitter, Youtube, Twitch etc., if you have the browser you can drop tips to PUBLISH0X or me on Twitter, which is a neat little feature.
BAT today
The browser started out fairly simple and has seen some shaky moments. There was a mass case of disappearing transactions when they implemented Uphold and a large number of users are still sour over this. The browser itself is performing really well and are constantly getting new features out, just yesterday the added the feature to do anonymous in-browser calls to other Brave users. How BAT will fair is more uncertain as the team doesn't implement features or changes that would drive the price up, they rather
Pros:
- Earnable through a stable browser
- Unique use case/market
- Strong partnerships
Cons:
- Adoption issues for the token
- BAT itself is centralized
- Strong competition on the ad market
