Table Of Contents
What Is Basic Attention Token (BAT)?
BAT is an ERC-20 token that aims to pay users for their attention, alongside publishers for their content. BAT is a utility token designed solely for the privacy-focused browser Brave, built upon Ethereum. BAT is bridged across Ethereum and Solana’s blockchains.
Internet browsers such as Google and Firefox have been plagued with privacy issues. These internet browsers make most of their money from advertisers using the platform, focusing more on where they make money rather than the users. BAT aims to improve digital advertising and advertising technology using blockchains.
How Does Basic Attention Token (BAT) Work?
Before you understand BAT, you must understand the Brave web browser. Brave is an open-source browser based on privacy and security for its more than 55M monthly users, and 22M daily active users.[1]Basic Attention Token – Growth Brave automatically blocks online advertisements and trackers on the websites you visit and uses client-side encryption to protect the sensitive information it collects.[2]Basic Attention Token – Whitepaper, Page 20
Brave stores how users interact with specific advertisements on a digital ledger. These advertisements are held within the token’s blockchain, so when users use the Brave browser, they are shown the best ads that match them. This is determined by various factors such as interaction, watch time, advertisement size, etc., which are tracked using Zero-Knowledge Proof protocols.[3]Basic Attention Token – FAQs These ads then replace traditional ads shown on websites. The more ads are seen and interacted with, the better the targeting.
Brave takes USD from advertisers at a 30/70 rate. They take 30%, and the remaining 70% is bought to buy BAT and distribute to users.[4]Brave Rewards FAQs – What % of ad revenue does Brave share with users? These payouts are calculated in USD, so if the price of BAT goes up 5x, then they only need 1/5 of the usual BAT they pay out.
The BAT Ad Ecosystem works in a cycle. Advertisers will pay to show their ads on the Brave browser, users will earn BAT for viewing ads on Brave, and content creators will earn ad revenue for making great content. Content creators may also get paid through user contributions and tips. The funds will return to the user growth pool if users do not claim their BAT within 90 days.[5]Basic Attention Token – FAQs
The value proposition presented in the tokens whitepaper states that;
- Users will receive strong privacy and security when viewing advertisements, improved relevance, and a share of the revenue.
- Publishers will have improved revenue, better reporting, and less fraud.
- Advertisers receive less expensive customer attention, less fraud, and better attribution.
BAT Tokenomics
BAT’s total supply and max supply is 1.5 billion tokens, where 1 billion were sold at the tokens ICO (Initial Coin Offering), and the remaining 500M are held in reserves to aid the future growth of its ecosystem. This means that there won’t be any more BAT issued as 100% of tokens are in circulation – although there are 650,000 tokens that have been lost.
The price of BAT is acclimated with ETH. 6400 BAT was locked in as equivalent to 1 ETH.[6]Basic Attention Token – FAQs Therefore, as ETH rises/drops, so does BAT.
BAT Token Allocation
- 66.7% of tokens (1,000,000,000) were sold to the investors in ICO.[7]Basic Attention Token – Whitepaper, Page 22
- 20% of funds (300,000,000) were allocated to the user growth pool.
- 13.3% of funds (200,000,000) were allocated to Brave/Development team pool.
BAT Budget Allocation
BAT aimed to raise over $24M at ICO at an average price of $0.024 from the 1B tokens sold to the public.[8]Basic Attention Token – Whitepaper, Page 22 According to the token’s whitepaper, they will manage funds as such;
Is BAT A Good Investment?
BAT is a utility token. This means it is not a digital currency, security, or commodity[9]Basic Attention Token – FAQs thus, its value is determined based on the supply and demand metric of the token with investors.
The safety of an investment in BAT depends on several factors, including the overall stability of the cryptocurrency market and the performance of the Brave browser. As with any investment, it’s essential to consider the potential risks and rewards before deciding. Investing in BAT or any other cryptocurrency carries a high degree of risk, and it’s possible that you could lose some or all of your investment.
BAT’s future also depends on whether advertisers would adopt this new model the Brave software has proposed. As Brave grows, the token must find more utility as it works in a near-closed ecosystem with little to drive its value upwards.
Where Can You Buy BAT
BAT is earnt through Brave Rewards on the browser by turning on Brave Ads, an optional feature. This is held in the browser’s built-in wallet or a wallet linked to the browser.
Basic Attention Token (BAT) can be purchased on popular cryptocurrency exchange platforms such as; Coinbase, Binance, ByBit* or KuCoin*. BAT may also be purchased on decentralized exchanges such as; UniSwap, PancakeSwap, and Curve.
BAT FAQs
Who Are The Founders Of Basic Attention Token?
Brendan Eich and Brian Bondy founded Basic Attention Token. Eich is a computer programmer known for creating JavaScript, Mozilla, and Firefox and serves as the company’s CEO. Bondy is a software engineer who previously worked at Mozilla, Evernote, and Khan Academy and founded VisionWorks Solutions Inc. Bondy serves as Brave’s lead developer.
Basic Attention Token Advisors
- Zooko Wilcox, the CEO of Electric Coin Company which leads development for Zcash.
- Greg Badros, former VP of Engineering at Facebook and Senior Engineering Director at Google.
- Ankur Nandwani, product manager at Coinbase.
Where Is BAT Used?
BAT is most utilized by YouTubers, with over 835,917 creators using BAT. Twitter is second with 226,814, Twitch with 179,390, Websites with 159,538, Vimeo with 135,007, Reddit with 132,654, and GitHub with 67,413.[10]Basic Attention Token – Growth
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