What Is the Brave Browser?
Brave is an Internet browser based on Chromium – an open-source project spearheaded by Google and used as the basis for Google’s widely-used Chrome browser. Because Brave and Chrome essentially have the same engine under the hood, the user experience is similar. To put it simply, if you currently use Chrome, you’ll find it easy to adapt to Brave. What really sets Brave apart from Chrome and other popular browsers is two-fold: speed and privacy. Brave contends it can load web pages up to three times faster than Chrome, all while shielding users from the unscrupulous methods many websites use to gather personal data like browsing history, etc. It does this by essentially removing all of the ads on any given website. By stripping ads, there is less data that needs to be collected and transmitted, resulting in a faster user experience. In addition to removing the ads, Brave also removes the ad trackers, essentially insulating its users from data collection. This may sound like a dream come true; however, critics of Brave have been quick to point out that without advertisements, the Internet as we know it simply couldn’t exist. The annoying ads that litter websites are a necessity for many content creators, as it is the only way to generate revenue to keep the site going. Brave removes the ability for sites and creators to get paid, which may result in a better user experience, but it starves the site of the cash it needs to keep going. To fix this, Brave designed a way to get ads in front of users while still offering speed and privacy. It achieves this by rewarding users for viewing ads in their own cryptocurrency: Basic Attention Token or BAT.
What Is BAT?
Basic Attention Tokens or BATs, as the name suggests, are earned when a Brave user opts to view an ad. The ads are delivered to users in a unique way. Since all ads are scrubbed from a page before a user even lays eyes on it, Brave allows its users to opt in to seeing ads by delivering them as pop-up notifications. The user can then choose to click on the pop-up, which opens a new tab featuring the ad content. BAT earned by users are stored in a wallet built in to the browser. The BAT can then be used to “pay” publishers of websites as a way to support those creators. Alternatively, users can hold their BAT and even trade it for other cryptocurrencies or fiat currency on a variety of exchanges. As of June 1st, 2021, a single BAT is worth approximately US$0.70, with roughly 1.5 billion BATs in circulation.
How Do I Earn BAT?
This means that just seeing a notification for an ad means you’ll earn BAT – you don’t even have to click on it. In fact, clicking on an ad you’re not interested in is discouraged. Brave’s position is that users should only click ads that interest them.
How to Maximize BAT Earnings
Maximizing your BAT is going to require looking at more ads. If you’re okay with that, then there are a few things you can do to make sure you earn the most BAT possible. The first thing you can do is use the Brave browser on all of your devices. The Brave Browser is compatible with Windows (32- and 64-bit), macOS (Intel & ARM64) and Linux. Furthermore, the Brave browser is available for Android and iOS devices. Note: iOS users will no longer be able to earn BAT. However, iOS users can install and use the Brave browser. Once you have Brave installed on your device, you’ll want to head to the Brave Rewards Settings. You can do this in one of three ways. Type brave://rewards into the browser’s address bar and hit Enter. You can also click the “hamburger” menu icon on the top right of the browser window if you’re on a PC. If you’re on mobile, tap the three dots on the bottom right. In the menu that appears, look for “Brave Rewards” and click/tap that. Finally, you can click or tap on the Basic Attention Token icon at the end of the browser’s address bar. This will open a window displaying your BAT earnings. Click/tap on “Rewards Settings.” With the Brave Rewards Settings page open, make sure the toggle switch labelled “Ads” is flicked on. Next to the toggle switch is the ads settings icon. Click/tap on that to bring up a drop-down box where you can nominate how many ads you want to see per hour. This should go without saying, but viewing more ads means earning more BAT. The maximum number of ads at the time of this writing is five, so go ahead and select “5 ads per hour.”
Maximize BAT Earnings on a PC
In addition to the steps outlined above, if you use Brave on a PC, you have another opportunity to earn BAT. When you launch the browser, you’ll see the Brave homepage. The homepage has some interesting stats and some widgets including your estimated BAT earnings against a backdrop of some pretty scenery. On the bottom right of the homepage you’ll see “Customize.” Click on that to open a menu. Here you’ll be able to customize a variety of things. Clicking on “Background Image,” you’ll notice a toggle switch labelled “Show sponsored images.” Flicking this on will present you with ads on your Brave homepage, earning you more BAT.
Maximize BAT Earnings on Mobile Devices
Finally, if you’re on an Android device, you can choose to see ads even when you are not actively browsing the Web. Launch Brave and tap on the menu icon (three stacked dots). Next, tap on the cog icon labeled “Settings.” From there, scroll down and tap on “Brave Rewards” underneath the “Advanced” subheading. On the next screen, you’ll see an option labeled “Show ads when Brave is not in use.” Flicking the toggle switch to the ON position will cause ad notifications to pop up on your device even when you’re not surfing the Web.
How to Transfer BAT Out of the Brave Browser and into a Crypto Wallet
As we previously mentioned, the BAT reward system is meant for users to “tip” websites and content creators that they frequent. However you don’t have to. You can hold on to your BAT for as long as you would like. The BAT that you earn is stored in the Brave Browser’s built-in wallet. However, users can transfer their BAT out of the Brave Browser and into a wallet. To do so, you need to “verify” your wallet. Doing so requires the creation of an Uphold wallet. This allows the transfer of BAT to your newly created Uphold wallet. Once your BAT is in your Uphold wallet, you can then transfer your BAT to another wallet or an exchange. That being said, there is one major caveat. Users need to accumulate a certain number of BAT before they can “verify” their wallet. On PC, the magic number is 15 BAT. On mobile devices, you’ll need to earn 25 BAT before you can verify the wallet. Depending on how much time you browse the Web, accumulating that much BAT may take a while.
Exchanges that List BAT as a Traded Cryptocurrency
Once you’ve transferred your BAT out of the Brave browser and into a wallet, you can then send it to an exchange. From there, you can swap BAT for other cryptocurrencies, or you can sell it for cash. Alternatively, it’s also possible to loan your BAT and earn interest. However, not every cryptocurrency exchange lists BAT. We’ve compiled a list of some of the more popular exchanges that list BAT so that you can start trading ASAP. Crypto.comBinanceCoinbaseBittrexCoinSpotBitfinex Do you use the Brave browser? Are you actively trading Basic Attention Tokens? Let us know in the comments!
