What is Basic Attention Token (BAT)?
The Basic Attention Token (BAT) is an Ethereum-based cryptocurrency that aims to revolutionize the $330 billion digital advertising industry by creating a blockchain-based digital advertising exchange that eliminates any chance of fraud. Basic Attention Token manages to create an advertising experience which is both transparent and decentralized, while benefiting both clients and consumers.
The Brave Browser, which was developed by the same team as the token, connects publishers, advertisers, and users in a mutually beneficial system. The Basic Attention Token is the reward unit of this system and provides better revenue for publishers and less expensive customer attention for advertisers, while the viewers of the advertising benefit from improved relevance and stronger privacy as well as a share of the tokens spent by advertisers.
How Does Basic Attention Token Work?
Brave is an open source privacy-focused browser that blocks all unnecessary ads and trackers by default with Brave Shields. It also anonymously measures user attention with a built-in ledger system to improve users’ advertising experience. This is done by calculating the amount of time each advertisement is viewable to a user as well as the number of pixels they can see.
Brave matches content with advertisers that are truly relevant through the use of in-device machine learning, while feedback mechanisms ensure that users receive advertising for the products they are most likely to buy. All of this data is encrypted and stored on the device only, and Brave protects the identities of its users.
Anyone using the browser can turn on the Brave Ads feature to get paid in Basic Attention Token for the time they spend viewing advertising. They can also turn on the Brave Rewards feature which will automatically divide up their chosen monthly BAT token contribution between the sites they visit according to time spent on each.
Additionally, users can choose to tip their favourite content creators directly, either though the browser’s reward panel or by clicking the tip button next to the URL bar on sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Reddit.
Who Are the Founders of Basic Attention Token? (History of BAT)
Brave Software was founded in 2015 by Brendan Eich and Brian Bondy. Brendan Eich is a big name in the tech world – not only did he create JavaScript, but he was also a key figure in the development of Mozilla’s Firefox. Brian Bondy was likewise instrumental in Firefox’s development, as well as Khan Academy and Evernote.
The Basic Attention Token was launched in 2017 and made news by raising $35 million in less than one minute in one of the fastest ever sell-outs for an initial coin offering (ICO). The ICO was somewhat controversial as only 130 people bought the Basic Attention Token, with half the BAT token supply being purchased by just five people. This means that Basic Attention Token is not as decentralized as many other crypto projects.
Brave 1.0 was launched in November 2019, with the first fully-featured Brave Browser. The browser had been available before that in a beta release but the Brave 1.0 release first introduced Brave Shields, Brave Ads, and Brave Rewards.
What Makes Basic Attention Token Unique?
Brave stands out from other browsers by virtue of its shields and ledger system for measuring user attention. By blocking advertising and trackers, it also loads pages faster than its competitors.
The Basic Attention Token creates a new efficient marketplace and is distinguished by the innovative opportunities it offers to advertisers looking to reach valuable customers – while empowering users with a share in ad revenue and the ability to tip their favorite content creators directly.
Although there are other products with similar goals, Basic Attention token has had by far the most success, with over 1 million verified content creators registering for BAT rewards, including Wikipedia, The Guardian, The Washington Post and 50 Cent.
What Gives Basic Attention Token Value?
The Basic Attention Token derives value from its utility as a unit of exchange in an efficient marketplace. It can provide an important source of income for content creators and a means of paying for effective ad campaigns for advertisers.
As more users opt for Brave’s browsing experience, more advertisers will want to join the BAT ecosystem and so will need to purchase the Basic Attention Token. This could increase Basic Attention Token price and market cap in the future. Also, the BAT token supply is limited, meaning payments in small denominations can be made well into the future.
How Many Basic Attention Tokens (BAT) Are in Circulation?
Basic Attention Token has a total supply of 1.5 billion BAT tokens, almost all of which is currently in circulation. 1 billion BAT coins were sold to investors in the 2017 ICO. 200 million of the remaining tokens went to a development pool and the final 300 million BAT coins were reserved for a user growth pool.
The tokens in the user growth pool were intended to incentivize participation in the BAT ecosystem and reward early adopters. No new tokens will be created after the depletion of the user growth funds.
Other Technical Data
More than 400 advertisers are part of the Basic Attention Token ecosystem and the Brave Browser has reached 25.4 million monthly active users and 9.2 million daily active users.
There are 12 million different BAT wallets and the on-chain transaction volume of BAT is over $373 million. The BAT network also includes more than 70,000 verified creators on Twitch, more than 128,000 on Twitter, and more than half a million on YouTube.
How To Use Basic Attention Token
At time of writing, advertisers must commit to spending at least $2,500 per month in order to launch an ad campaign, which must be paid in Basic Attention Token (BAT). The revenue is shared between content creators and users, who can then choose to pay creators through auto-contribute or direct tips. BAT rewards earned can be redeemed in the Rewards Marketplace for gift cards, sweeps entries and to support good causes.
As Basic Attention Token can be transacted directly with the Ethereum blockchain, it has utility in several areas outside the BAT ecosystem. These include lending, derivatives and liquidity pools through decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols such as Compound and Aave; purchasing products from the Brave Swag Store; and in blockchain gaming for events and NFTs (non-fungible tokens). BAT can also be traded on many cryptocurrency exchanges, of course.
How To Choose a Basic Attention Token Wallet
The Uphold wallet is integrated with the Brave Browser and Basic Attention Token earnings can be transferred into it. KYC information must be provided in order to withdraw the BAT from Uphold. As Basic Attention Token is an ERC-20 token, it can be stored in any Ethereum wallet and the type you choose will likely be influenced by how much BAT you have and what you intend to do with it.
Hardware wallets (aka cold wallets) like Ledger or Trezor offer the most secure option with offline storage and backup. However, they tend to be more expensive and difficult to understand so are probably more suitable for those with more experience and large amounts of Basic Attention Token to store.
A simpler, and usually free, option is software wallets. These can be downloaded to your smartphone or desktop and may be custodial or non-custodial. With custodial wallets, the private keys are managed and backed up on your behalf by the service provider. Non-custodial wallets make use of secure elements on your device to store the private keys. These are more convenient for making BAT transactions but less secure than their hardware counterparts, meaning they’re better suited to those with less experience and smaller amounts of Basic Attention Token.
Finally, there are online wallets or exchanges, known as hot wallets, which can be accessed with a web browser. These are less secure than the alternatives and require customers to place their trust in a platform to manage their Basic Attention Token. These are best for those who are holding small amounts of BAT tokens or will be making a higher volume of BAT transactions. Just make sure to pick a service with strong security measures and a good reputation.
Kriptomat offers a secure storage solution, allowing you to both store and trade your Basic Attention Token without hassle. Storing your BAT with Kriptomat provides you with enterprise-grade security and user-friendly functionality.
Buying and selling Basic Attention Token (BAT), or exchanging it for any other cryptocurrency, is done in mere moments when you choose our secure platform as your storage solution.
Basic Attention Token Mining
As an ERC-20 token, Basic Attention Token (BAT) is built on the Ethereum blockchain and secured by a proof of work consensus algorithm, which is supported by the network of Ethereum miners. This ensures the validity and permanence of Basic Attention Token transactions.
Making Advertising More Transparent
The Basic Attention Token (BAT) showed a lot of promise with its highly successful ICO and a talented and experienced team led by Brendan Eich. It solves a lot of the issues present in the mainstream digital advertising industry, such as ad fraud, and creates an improved browsing experience for users while better serving advertisers and creators.
The Brave Browser implements some beneficial features to block malicious advertising, target users with relevant advertising and distribute ad revenues fairly between creators and users. It not only protects user privacy and consent but also makes browsing faster and more enjoyable.
The Basic Attention Token has achieved an impressive level of adoption in terms of active users, number of verified creators and on-chain transaction volume. Furthermore, given the BAT team’s plans to branch out into DeFi and launch a Brave Search engine, it seems likely that these figures will only increase.
