About BAT (Basic Attention Token)

BAT is the cryptocurrency token used to reward viewers and publishers using the Brave Browser.

'Brave' is a new style of browser that protects a user's privacy by blocking ad trackers and malware. By removing ads in this way, while offering a simple interface and different search engine options, the Brave browser provides a faster, safer (and more rewarding) way to browse the internet.

In brief: faster load times while keeping your browsing history all your own.

The BAT or Basic Attention Token is a cryptocurrency that runs on the Ethereum blockchain and is the native token of the Brave Browser ecosystem. 

Advertisers use it to pay rewards to users for viewing ads and to publishers for creating quality content that attracts attention, measured in dwell time.

Why is Basic Attention Token (BAT) popular?

Basic Attention Token (BAT) is popular for many reasons:

1. As a user, you get paid in BAT for viewing ads while using the browser.
2. The Brave Browser has a built-in cryptocurrency wallet that securely stores your BAT.
3. You can set the frequency of how many ads are shown to you while using the browser. 

In addition, BAT is easily transferable, tradable, and could be a good investment given the multi-billion-dollar annual demand for online advertising.

BAT (Basic Attention Token) was launched in an ICO on May 29th, 2017, and sold out in just 30 seconds.

1.5 billion BAT tokens (worth US $35 million) changed hands, proving that there was a huge market for browsing the internet and advertising in new ways.

What are the advantages of Basic Attention (BAT)

• The potential for Brave to grow is enormous: People are looking for alternative browsers, privacy is in the zeitgeist and Brave offers a seamless, easy experience across all devices. More users, more use of BAT.
• Other browsers monetise your information: Browsers like Chrome track you and offer access to your browsing data. Brave pays you instead, with cryptocurrency you can convert to fiat or hold for the future. And it protects your data and history.
• Brave Rewards + Uphold Wallet: Uphold is helping to drive the adoption of BAT by integrating its wallet into the Brave browser so that BAT can be seamlessly converted into national currencies. Apart from the bull run of November 2017 to January 2018, the price of BAT has stayed between $0.50 and $0.10. With wider adoption of the Brave Browser, the demand for Basic Attention Tokens is likely to increase - driving the price up further.

What are the disadvantages of Basic Attention (BAT)

• Other competitors could beat Brave: While people are moving to Brave for privacy, popular browser Firefox already offers customizable privacy settings, and Tor offers completely private viewing.  
• The BAT price isn't going up: The price of Basic Attention Token has been stable for several years.
• They've got massive competitors in browsers: Google and Safari have over 80% of the browser market  (approximately 65% and 16% respectively), and Brave has less than 1%.