The Basic Attention Token, commonly known as BAT, is the fuel for a new digital advertising network built on blockchain technology. This platform aims to fairly compensate users for their focus, while offering advertisers a better return on their advertising spend.
To dive deeper into this initiative, you can explore our comprehensive analysis of the Basic Attention Token.
This system operates through the Brave Browser, where users can view privacy-respecting advertisements and earn BAT as a reward. Meanwhile, advertisers can efficiently reach their target audience, enhancing engagement and reducing losses from ad fraud and misuse.
In this advertising network, the Basic Attention Token acts as the currency of reward, facilitating exchanges among advertisers, publishers, and users. Advertisers fund their ad campaigns with BAT tokens. From these funds, a small share is allocated to advertisers, whereas 70% goes to users, eliminating the middlemen that usually inflate advertising expenses to boost cost-effectiveness.
Basic Attention Token made its debut in 2017 after one of the quickest sell-out initial coin offerings (ICOs) ever, amassing $35 million in less than a minute. Since then, it has introduced its attention-focused advertising model to users in numerous countries through its Brave Rewards program.
By November 2020, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada led with the most active ad campaigns.
Who Were the Visionaries Behind Basic Attention Token?
The minds behind Basic Attention Token are Brendan Eich and Brian Bondy, two notable figures in the field of internet browsing technology.
Brendan Eich serves as the CEO of Brave Software, Inc., the company that developed the Brave browser and Basic Attention Token. Before his achievements at Brave, Eich founded Mozilla, where he also served as CTO, and in 1995, he created JavaScript. He was also instrumental in launching Mozilla Firefox, one of the globe's most widely used web browsers, in 2004.
Similarly, Brian Bondy takes on the role of CTO for both Brave and Basic Attention Token. Bondy brings a wealth of engineering expertise from his previous roles, including senior software engineer at Mozilla, software developer at Corel Corporation, and lead software developer at Khan Academy. Together, Eich and Bondy have more than five decades of software engineering experience.
According to the Basic Attention Token website, their team comprises 16 members, many of whom have backgrounds in development, engineering, or research.
What Sets Basic Attention Token Apart?
Basic Attention Token primarily serves as a payment method for executing ad campaigns via Brave Ads. As of November 2020, advertisers need to commit to a minimum monthly ad spend of $2,500 to kick off a campaign, although a self-service option with potentially lower thresholds is on the horizon.
At present, advertising budgets must be fully settled in Basic Attention Tokens, which can be obtained from several third-party exchanges. From these funds, Brave takes a minor commission, while the remaining amount is shared with publishers and users.
A standout feature of the Basic Attention Token and the Brave Browser ecosystem is the ability to tip users who are not yet participants in the network, such as websites and Twitter users. These users can later sign up to the platform to claim any tips they have gathered.
Since their inception, both Basic Attention Token and Brave Browser have gained substantial popularity. As of October 2020, Brave Browser boasted 20.5 million monthly active users, while the Basic Attention Token was held in over 368,000 unique wallets.
How Many Basic Attention Token (BAT) Coins Are in Circulation?
The maximum supply of Basic Attention Tokens is capped at 1.5 billion tokens. Increasing this amount would require transitioning to a new token smart contract.
Almost the entire supply is currently in circulation, making Basic Attention Token nearly fully diluted.
During its ICO in 2017, a total of 1 billion BAT tokens were sold to investors. An additional 200 million tokens were set aside in a development pool, while 300 million BAT was reserved for the user growth pool (UGP). By November 2020, both the development and UGP pools were nearly depleted.
How is the Basic Attention Token Network Kept Secure?
The Basic Attention Token, or BAT, operates as an ERC-20 token built on the Ethereum blockchain. Like all ERC-20 tokens, BAT is safeguarded by a well-established proof-of-work (POW) consensus mechanism, maintained by a robust network of Ethereum miners.
This consensus mechanism ensures the authenticity of transactions, while the collective efforts of Ethereum miners make BAT transactions irreversible once they've been confirmed.
Where Can You Acquire Basic Attention Token (BAT)?
Basic Attention Token is available for trading on most major cryptocurrency exchanges, boasting strong liquidity. Some of the most trusted exchanges for BAT trades include Binance, Coinbase Pro, and Huobi Global.
Much like other cryptocurrencies, BAT can be bought directly with fiat currency at numerous brokerage firms or traded against fiat assets on platforms like Kraken and Bithumb.
