The creators of the privacy-centric Brave browser have created a cryptocurrency known as Basic Attention Token, or BAT, which you can earn via viewing advertisements and pay to sites you like. We show you how to begin racking up BAT and how you can spend it.
Brave is a privacy-focused browser that pursuits to prevent its users from being tracked online. That generally means preventing advertisers from tracking you, which disrupts the primary way many websites make money. Brave’s makers aren’t just involved in the privacy side of the equation, however. One of their goals is to essentially change the way websites make money, using the BAT (Basic Attention Token) cryptocurrency, primarily based on the Ethereum blockchain. News and information sites like this one—and their readers—particularly stand to gain from the concept. Will it catch on? It’s difficult to say, however transferring the power (and some of the money involved) into the arms of customers is an attractive idea.
What Is Brave?
Brave, just like Chrome, Edge, Opera, and Vivaldi, is based totally on Google’s open-source Chromium browser code, so it is compatible, fast, and familiar. It sports some special features, too: Ad blocking and net tracking safety are built in, its private browsing mode can cover your traffic using Tor, it includes a built-in BitTorrent utility, and it provides a cryptocurrency wallet.
The BAT device will only take off if a lot of sites take advantage of what it offers: ad-free content support and letting the users earn by giving their attention to a site’s advertisements. Brave claims that over 500,000 content creators and publishers participate in the program. The employer additionally makes a compelling case that most of the advert money on the web is going to Google and Facebook these days, rather than to the real content publishers.
How Do I Earn Cryptocurrency Using Brave?
The premise is simple: If you endure viewing Brave Ads (which are push notifications, rather than on-page display ads), you can earn a fractional smidge of BAT. Conversely, if you choose to get past a site’s paywall and view it ad-free, you contribute a bit of BAT to the site.
After using the browser for a couple hours, I found I had earned 7 cents, so whilst it is not something to quit your day job for, extrapolating that to a number of hours per day should help stuff your digital piggybank. In any case, the intention of the cryptocurrency is to fund information sites, instead than to earn you a living. Find out how to set all this up below.
Brave Buzz
Brave has been in the tech information of late for both good and bad reasons. First, the good: comedian, podcaster, and TV personality Joe Rogan gave the browser a boost, saying he prefers it along with the DuckDuckGo search engine in contrast with Google’s offerings. “They’re not searching in your underwear. They’re not checking under your fingernails,” said Rogan.
On the downside, a Twitter person discovered that if you type certain cryptocurrency site addresses in, the URL was changed to one that supplied Brave with an affiliate link. Though this doesn’t differ greatly from what Chrome and other browsers do, Brave CEO Brendan Eich cited “The autocomplete default was inspired with the aid of search query clientid attribution that all browsers do, however unlike key-word queries, a typed-in URL should go to the domain named, without any additions. Sorry for this mistake—we are really not perfect, however we correct course quickly.” This seems like an issue that, whilst supplying one Twitter user with a “gotcha” moment, isn’t significant for most users, and it would not impact privacy—or your ability to earn BAT cryptocurrency and fix the ad mess on webpages.
You get it from Brave.com. Installers are available for Windows, macOS, and Linux (Debian 9+, Ubuntu 14.04+ and Mint 17+ distros). It’s a tiny download that in turn downloads and installs the browser software, similar to the way other Chromium browsers do. On the disk, the browser takes up 495MB on installation; not precisely lithe, however Chrome does the same.
Get Acquainted with Brave
There’s a welcome slideshow that takes you via importing bookmarks, advert blocking, setting search engine (DuckDuckGo is recommended, as a privacy-protecting option), and Brave Rewards. That remaining one will be our focus, as this is where the Basic Attention Token crypto utilization comes in.
Enable Rewards
Enabling rewards is achieved with a simple click of a button. You’re then ready to earn, buy, or spend BAT crypto. You have two primary options to enable or disable: Ads and Auto-Contribute. If you flip on the Ads switch, you will earn BAT by viewing advertisements on participating sites. If you turn on Auto-Contribute, participating sites you visit will receive BAT you’ve earned or bought.
Browse and Earn!
Notice the panel on the right of this browser home screen that says, “You’re getting paid to view this background image.” That’s because it is a sponsored image, in this case from BlockFi.com. You’ll see your BAT balance on your home page under Brave Rewards. Note that the advertisements that earn you BAT are not the standard webpage ads; you can still block those with Brave’s ad blocker. They additionally don’t track you the way the standard ads do and are less invasive.
Contribute to Sites
The red triangle at top right is key to the BAT rewards system: Note the blue check mark here; that means the site accepts BAT. After clicking that, you see the dropdown panel shown above. There you can add the site to your contributions, or eliminate it.
Tipping Is Allowed
Not solely can you make a contribution to websites you view, however you can additionally tip folks on Twitter, Reddit, and Github. This additionally requires verifying an Uphold account. Note the crimson triangle shows the blue take a look at mark here, too.
Verify Your Wallet (Optional)
You can earn and make a contribution with BAT without signing up for anything. But if you desire to cash in your BAT or contribute to your account with funds from different sources, you need to confirm your wallet through Uphold, a fantastically rated digital currency broker. Uphold even offers a debit MasterCard that you can back with crypto.
As with most things online, you begin by entering an electronic mail and password. Uphold additionally wants your country and state, in order to comply with local laws. Unfortunately, it is not licensed to trade crypto in New York, although it is in the process of getting approved. To complete the account creation, you need to enter your real name, birth date, and telephone number. You additionally need to snap a photo of your ID and of your face; this sounds intrusive, but it’s standard for crypto brokers, and you are not under any compulsion to even create an account.
Get Rewards from the TAP Network
Gift cards for Amazon, Walmart, Uber, and many more can be yours if you purchase them using your BAT balance in Brave. This additionally requires setting up a TAP account and connecting it with your verified Uphold account.
Set Up a Crypto Wallet
Slightly confusingly, this crypto wallet is completely separate from the BAT Rewards program. It truely lets you store crypto in the browser or join hardware wallets from Ledger and Trezor. To create a wallet, you simply need an electronic mail address and password. You’ll be shown a secret phrase of many words, which you need to secure, say in a LastPass secure note. I only saw BAT and Ethereum in the wallet. I was able to deposit $5 worth of Ethereum into the wallet (0.0243ETH at the time) using the QR code on my Brave wallet. Unfortunately, I could not convert this into BAT, but I could use it on the web.
Back Up Your Wallet
Since rewards are tied to the installation of Brave on your device, you can achieve a recovery key for when you switch devices. Note that this backup is for your Brave Rewards wallet, not your separate crypto wallet we just discussed.
Cashing in Your Rewards
As cited earlier, the BAT cryptocurrency is supposed to assist websites you enjoy, rather than to make you rich. But you can change the BAT you earn for good-old US dollars using Uphold (assuming you reside in a state where that crypto broker is authorized). It’s a simple matter of clicking the Withdraw Funds icon in the right panel of the Brave Rewards page of Settings. After that, you can convert the BAT to any other cryptocurrency, to US dollars, Argentine Pesos, or any of over two dozen other currencies, and have it transferred to your bank account.
Which Web Browser Should You Use?
While Brave has some attractive options, it is not your only preference among alternative web browsers. But if you are more of a mainstream type, study our roundup of the best internet browsers to see how standards from the software program giants stack up, including Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari.