DeutschAnonymity and data protection are known to be high on the list of “must-haves” for crypto users. Both criteria are also important to browser users. What if there was a mixture of both, so to speak? This is not entirely impossible – thanks in part to the work of Brendan Eich. Eich is none other than one of the people responsible for Mozilla and the popular browser Firefox. With the “Brave Browser” model, the founder has launched an alternative, fee-based browser model that includes advertising but places the highest demands on data protection.
This is well received by potential interested parties: According to the service provider, around eight million users now actively use the Brave Browser every month. The in-house crypto coin BAT, whose price has recently risen gradually, can also benefit from this.
Token Works on the Basis of Ethereum
The BAT coin in question is a so-called ERC20 token, so it works with reference to the blockchain of the Ethereum (ETH) system. For this reason, basically all wallets can be used for storage that are also used for managing your own ETH coins – this applies equally to external hardware wallets. Good to know: There is a specially developed digital wallet within the Brave Browser, so you don’t necessarily need an additional wallet.
Browser Stores User Data on the User’s Computer
Let’s take a quick look at the browser service first. Compared to other browsers, users enjoy a special service model when it comes to advertising. Brave collects user data like its competitors. However, the collected information is not stored by the service provider. Instead, it is stored on the user’s computer itself, so that it is transparent and comprehensible for users. With other internet browsers, this system is much more opaque and, last but not least, more comprehensive. A special feature of the offer is particularly evident from the perspective of advertisers.
Programming via Rust for more Speed in the System
Technologically, Brave is also characterized by the fact that the built-in ad blocker is particularly efficient based on experience. The “engine” was programmed in Rust. The filter itself goes by the obvious name Brave Shields. The news is relevant insofar as the blocker was previously based on C++. The Brave Browser has to register and process an average of 75 requests per page view. This is how advertising is identified. By switching to Rust, a programming language developed by Mozilla Research, the ad blocker was optimized again. Specialist portals circulate figures that indicate an improvement of up to 69 times. Overall, Brave works quickly and securely, which is essential for competing with Firefox and Chrome.
Efficient Advertising without Unnecessarily High Costs?
A lot has happened in the three years since the Brave Browser presentation in early 2016. The initially quite experimental exchange of third-party advertising content for advertising from its own publishers is becoming increasingly precise. Anyone who places advertising via the browser pays for content that is actually viewed by target groups. Advertisers also receive access to the advertising data in anonymized and compact form. The Brave Browser also wants to fight malware more strongly than many competitors. Clear goal of the developers: A highly profitable conversion rate. The browser generally does without permanently setting cookies in private mode. If the system is closed, no historical data is retained after the session.
Advertising Fans get Their Money’s Worth
From a professional point of view, both the Basic Attention Token (BAT) and the browser model are a kind of test run. The project aims to develop an innovative way to distribute advertising content. However, the number of users speaks in favor of the approach. Some observers are already assuming a possible spin-off from the ETH blockchain in the future. In any case, the technical advertising approach brings the operator some attention. The fact that users are rewarded in BAT for viewing advertising makes the model interesting for both sides. The Brave Browser team monitors the entire process of advertising distribution. The principle of earning BAT is very simple: whoever views a lot of content receives particularly many rewards.
YouTube and Twitter Users Form the Core of the Success
The data collection to date since the beginning of this year is quite promising. According to Brave Analytics, the platform recorded a steady increase in advertising content. The list of so-called “Brave Verified Publishers” now includes almost 300,000 users. They have received different amounts of BAT anonymously. A large proportion of publishers (approx. 200,000) advertise via the YouTube video portal. The number of Twitter users is moving towards the 30,000 user mark. More than 30,000 other publishers advertise directly via their websites. As expected, the YouTube sector is booming. Here, according to its own statement, Brave has recorded an increase of a whopping 1,000% since the beginning of the year. CoinPro.ch is already one of the Brave Publishers.
But Twitter is “going one better”. Since the opening in June 2019, the number of content publishers there has even increased by 1,590%. Brave also owes its success to its offensive presentation policy. All campaigns, publishers and the “Brave-initiated BAT purchases” here can be viewed in real time via the subpage.
Additional Reward System as an Extra Incentive
Brave is now buying back previously issued BAT on a large scale. These tokens are then gradually re-issued to users via a special reward system. “Brave Rewards” rewards particularly dedicated users. Companies that advertise via Brave should be able to pay in both BAT and US dollars. The company also maps these transactions in a comprehensible manner. The BAT movements on the market have not necessarily been out of the ordinary so far. Within three months, the company made four purchases. These totaled the equivalent of 63,000 US dollars, which corresponded to a contingent of just over 288,000 BAT at the current exchange rate. With regard to the volatility of the token, observers expect that this will be significantly influenced by the Brave repurchases. The BAT price could therefore experience significant fluctuations in the future.
October a Particularly Good Month for BAT
As the development shows, the BAT Token is largely dependent on the success of the Brave Browser. If it is successful, the BAT price could continue to rise significantly. The developments of the viewers of advertising will in turn influence the price of the Basic Attention Token. More advertising viewed means: higher revenues. In any case, the BAT price experienced a significant increase since the beginning of October. At times, the price rose by almost 25%. The fate of the token is inextricably linked to the hoped-for success story of the browser. At least for now. Because the developers could dissolve this coupling of the browser with exemplary data protection in the future through further products and technical changes.
Browser Quality Seems to be Slowly Spreading
The current statistics on browsers and tokens are definitely positive. In a recent company blog, for example, there was talk of a click-through rate of 14%. The value is a factor of seven above the market average. So far, around 400 advertisers have made use of the service. The bottom line is that it is precisely the distribution of advertising revenue to website operators, users and developers at Brave that reflects the innovative character. In terms of transparency, hardly anyone can currently hold a candle to the Brave Browser, especially since the technology also dramatically reduces the BOT manipulation risk in a positive sense. In the end, the exemplary privacy proves to be an advantage not only when viewing “adult content” on the WWW. Coinmarketcap now lists the BAT in the top 30 of the coins based on market capitalization, which the Basic Attention Token is currently at around 300 million US dollars.
