TL;DR

“Digital advertising is broken.” (in Portuguese, "Digital advertising is flawed"). This is what the Basic Attention Token (BAT) aims to fix. How exactly? Rewarding user attention to advertising and giving back to creators.

BAT is powered by the Brave browser and is ready to change the traditional advertising model. The idea is that this new design benefits users, creators and even advertising companies.

Introduction

Created by one of the web's geniuses, Brendan Eich - creator of Javascript and co-founder of Mozilla.org, the Basic Attention Token based on Ethereum addresses one of the web's biggest problems: advertising.

BAT aims to reward web users and content creators based on attention. The token is distributed to users according to their online activity and to creators as they capture user attention. With BAT, it is also possible to obtain advertising space. But how does this cryptocurrency work and how does the Brave browser fit into this system? Let's find out.

What is Basic Attention Token (BAT)?

BAT is an ERC-20 token that aims to reward users and advertisers. Users watch ads and get paid accordingly, while creators are rewarded for the amount of attention they attract from users. BAT is a way to monetize attention. This process is called “the attention economy”.

The BAT rewards feature is only available on Brave Web, a browser with an emphasis on privacy. By default, Brave blocks third-party ads and trackers, and also has native integration with the Tor network. BAT is also used to buy advertising space and provide feedback to Brave content creators.

Although you don't need Brave to trade BAT, using Brave you can take advantage of the token's full potential. Still, if you just want to make trades or store them, you can do that on Binance.

How does the Basic Attention Token (BAT) work?

By downloading the Brave browser, users can opt for Brave Rewards. This feature is how they earn BAT tokens when using the browser.

How exactly? Browsing Brave and seeing ads. Creators are rewarded based on the attention their content attracts. Users can also tip BAT to their favorite content creators. Additionally, advertisers can use BAT to purchase a portion of users' screen space.

BAT transfers through Brave Rewards are made using the Uphold platform. In other words, Uphold covers the gas cost of transfers. By default, no identity verification is required to enable and use Brave Rewards. However, if you wish to withdraw your credits or deposit more than $1000 on the platform, you will need to provide KYC verification information.

Why is the Basic Attention Token (BAT) important?

The Basic Attention Token (BAT) was developed to solve problems that online advertising has failed to solve in the move from desktop to mobile. Although websites are adapted for mobile versions, the same cannot be said for ad servers, which can significantly harm the browsing experience.

The BAT team calculated that in 2018 ads cost users up to $23 per month in data and consumed up to 21% of cell phone battery. Furthermore, advertisements can be an unwelcome distraction for many and often cause privacy violations.

On the other hand, traditional publishers are also losing ad revenue due to the current browser advertising landscape. The Brave browser proposal presents a new system, more rewarding for all parties involved.

Basic Attention Token (BAT) use cases

Advertisers can buy advertising space on Brave, paying with BAT instead of USD. Just like Google, Facebook or other advertising platforms, they can consult statistics such as views, clicks, conversions and many others.

There is another important use case regarding metadata. It's no secret that metadata is extremely valuable information. However, the users who generate the data often receive nothing in return. The Brave and BAT teams offer users compensation for providing their private metadata.

Users or organizations with their own websites, publications, YouTube channels, or Twitch accounts can sign up as content creators. Users can tip content creators in BAT if they feel they are adding value to the network. This type of model can create a more favorable space to reward the most useful content on the web.

If you are interested in the DeFi sector, you can also use BAT as collateral (collateral) for DAI issuance on MakerDAO.

➟ Thinking about investing in cryptocurrencies? Buy Bitcoin (BTC) on Binance!

How to store Basic Attention Token (BAT)?

The BAT token is stored in the Uphold wallet within the Brave browser. At the time of writing this article in December 2020, this is the only option for transferring your BAT tokens received via Brave Rewards. As we mentioned earlier, if you want to withdraw your credits from Uphold, you must provide KYC verification information.

Otherwise, BAT is an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain. It can be stored in multiple places. This includes exchanges like Binance, web or mobile wallets, and hardware wallets. The Ledger and Trezor also support BAT holding.

Final considerations

The BAT token and the Brave ecosystem aim to revolutionize the digital advertising industry. The move to a more transparent advertising model based on blockchain technology represents a victory for users, creators and even advertising companies.

Is Brave the best way to advertise on the web? It might be. BAT has a lot of room for growth if more people opt into the Brave Rewards system and more companies utilize its advertising features.