What is Basic Attention Token (BAT)?

The Brave web browser comes with an ad-exchange service called Basic Attention Token (BAT). It is an open-source, decentralised utility coin built on the Ethereum blockchain that aims to be included into other popular web browsers.

The coin is intended to compensate consumers for their attention while also giving marketers a better return on their advertising investments.

In essence:

The ERC-20 token BAT is.

The distribution of the 1.5 billion tokens is almost complete.

The currency is protected by Proof of Work (PoW)

The Brave ecosystem is composed of users, publishers, and advertising.

The Brave browser, a Web 2.0 browser competitor, incorporates BAT.

Who created BAT?

Basic Attention Token was developed by internet browsing software industry veterans Brendan Eich and Brian Bondy.

Brendan Eich founded and served as CTO of Mozilla before taking on the role of CEO at Brave Software. Brendan contributed to the 2004 launch of Mozilla Firefox and also created JavaScript in 1995. The CTO of BAT, Brian Bondy, had a similar tale. Prior to working as a senior programmer at Mozilla, he developed software for the Khan Academy.

Together, the two have over 50 years of programming and development experience. A 16-person team that has the majority of its members with engineering or research backgrounds supports them.

How does the protocol work?

The Ethereum blockchain, which is embedded within the Brave browser, serves as the foundation for Basic Attention Token. The platform accepts BAT tokens as payment for advertising services. Users, publishers, and advertisers are all necessary for the protocol to work, and its main objective is to provide businesses access to users’ attention—quite literally.

Publishers essentially distribute the content they produce online, after which advertisers approach the publishers and present them with a variety of BATs as payment. Users get some BATs in return for taking part in the trade. Following the exchange, users can either spend these tokens on the site, give them to publishers, or sell the tokens on a cryptocurrency market.

The concept is quite simple: the tokens keep all user data in a secure and private format while simultaneously giving marketers access to targeted, individualised adverts. This can only be done with the end user’s permission.

Publishers can profit from the exchange because there is a lot less fraud, which increases the possibility of rewards. Additionally, advertisers get superior data for their operations and plans.

What is the BAT token?

The Basic Attention Token, introduced in 2017, was one of the most successful initial coin offers (ICOs) ever, raising $35 million in under 60 seconds. 300 million BAT tokens were put in reserve for user growth, 200 million were utilised for a development pool, and a total of 1 billion BAT tokens were initially sold (UGP).

Through the Brave Rewards programme, the team has since made the attention-based advertising experience available to users in the majority of nations.

The maximum supply of the token is 1.5 billion, and it cannot be expanded without utilising a different smart contract platform. Nearly all of the supply has been distributed since inception, hence the token’s supply can be regarded fully diluted.

The Brave Browser

The Brave browser’s utility token is called BAT. As with any ERC-20 token, BAT is a crucial part of the Brave ecosystem and is protected by a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus method. This ensures that Basic Attention Token transactions are genuine and permanent. Once a transaction has been confirmed on the network, it cannot be undone.

In this advertising ecosystem, the token experience itself serves as the unit of reward. The browser advertises privacy settings and faster speeds than other popular browsers. The number of monthly active users of the Brave browser topped 25 million as of February 2021.

What are the main features of BAT?

The primary application of BAT is the efficient execution of marketing campaigns using Brave advertisements. In order to start a campaign, advertisers must pledge to spend a minimum of $2,500 each month as of last year. A self-service platform with more features is, however, being developed.

BAT tokens, which are needed for ad budgets and can be purchased from a number of exchanges, come with a commission that Brave shares with publishers and users in return.

The Basic Attention Token stands out for its potential to tip users who haven’t signed up for the network, encouraging greater adoption.

Putting it all together

The Brave Browser’s money is known as BAT. In a sense, the expansion of the browser and vice versa are determined by its success. As more advertisers employ BAT over time, a positive feedback loop that takes advantage of network effects is created.

The proposal, which caters to the digitalized world of online marketing and advertising, is both logical and ambitious. If the developers are successful, BAT may be in the lead to capture a significant portion of the Web 3.0 market.