In brief
“Digital advertising no longer works.” This is the challenge that Basic Attention Token (BAT) is looking to overcome. How does the project do this? By rewarding user attention in the advertising space and giving it back to creators.
Thanks to the support of Brave browser, BAT is built to change the traditional advertising model. The idea behind this fresh design is to benefit users, creators and even advertising companies.
Introduce
Designed by one of the Web's leading minds, Brendan Eich, creator of Javascript and co-founder of Mozilla.org, the Ethereum-based Basic Attention Token solves one of the Web's biggest problems, That's advertising.
BAT seeks to reward Web users and content creators based on attention. Tokens are allocated to users according to their activity on the network and to creators according to how well they attract users' attention. People can also buy advertising space with BAT. But how does this cryptocurrency work and how suitable is the Brave browser? Let's find out now.
What is Basic Attention Token (BAT)?
BAT is an ERC-20 token that seeks to reward both users and advertisers. Users watch ads and are paid accordingly, while creators are rewarded based on how well they attract users' attention. BAT is a way to monetize attention in an economy sometimes called the “attention economy.”
BAT rewards feature is only available on the privacy-focused Brave Web browser. Brave blocks ads and third-party trackers by default and also has native integration with Tor . BAT is also used to buy advertising space and reward content creators on Brave.
Although you don't need Brave to trade BAT, this token will be powerful if you use Brave. However, if you just want to trade or hold tokens, you can do so on Binance.
How Basic Attention Token (BAT) works
After downloading the Brave browser, users can opt-in to Brave Rewards. This is how users can earn BAT using the browser.
So how exactly does this happen? By browsing on Brave and watching ads. Creators are rewarded according to the amount of attention their content attracts. Users can also reward BAT to content creators they like. Advertisers can also spend BAT to have ads show on a portion of a user's screen.
BAT transfers through Brave Rewards are performed using the Uphold platform. This also means that Uphold will cover the gas costs of the transfer. By default, users do not need to verify their identity to enable and use Brave Rewards. However, if you want to withdraw your earnings or deposit more than $1,000 into the platform, you will need to provide KYC information.
Why is Basic Attention Token (BAT) important?
Basic Attention Token (BAT) is designed to solve problems that online advertising has failed to solve during the ongoing transition from desktop to mobile. While websites are currently designed to display effectively on mobile devices, ad servers are not always the same, which can significantly slow down the browsing experience.
BAT calculated that in 2018, advertising cost mobile users up to $23 a month in data fees and consumed up to 21% of mobile battery capacity. Additionally, ads can cause unwanted distractions for many people, and they often violate privacy rights.
On the other hand, traditional publishers are also losing advertising revenue due to the current browser advertising landscape. Brave's aim is to introduce a new system that is more rewarding for all parties involved.
Uses of Basic Attention Token (BAT)
Advertisers can buy ad space on Brave using BAT, instead of USD. Like Google, Facebook, or other advertising platforms, they can see metrics like views, clicks, conversions, and more.
Another important use is related to metadata. Obviously, metadata is extremely valuable information. However, users who generate data often receive nothing in return. The purpose of Brave and BAT is to reward users for providing their private metadata.
People or organizations with their own website, publication, YouTube channel, or Twitch account can register as a content creator. If a creator does so, users can reward them with BAT if the user thinks the creator is providing the most value. This type of model could create a more favorable space for rewarding the most useful content on the Web.
If you are interested in DeFi, you can also use BAT as collateral in MakerDAO to mint DAI.
➟Want to start learning cryptocurrency? Buy Bitcoin (BTC) on Binance today!
How to store Basic Attention Token (BAT)
BAT is stored in the Uphold wallet on Brave browser. As of December 2020, this is the only place you can transfer BAT earned from Brave Rewards. As we mentioned earlier, if you want to withdraw your earnings from Uphold, you need to provide KYC information.
On the other hand, BAT is an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain. Therefore, BAT can be stored in many places. These include exchanges like Binance, web and mobile wallets, as well as hardware wallets. Both Ledger and Trezor support BAT holding.
summary
The purpose of BAT and the Brave ecosystem is to completely change the digital advertising industry. Moving towards a more transparent, blockchain-based advertising model shows that the benefits will be in the hands of users, creators, and even advertising companies.
Is Brave a more effective way to advertise on the Web? Maybe. BAT has a lot of room to grow if more people choose to join Brave Rewards and more companies participate in the ad auction.
