Brave Software—Brave launched privacy-preserving opt-in ad model with Basic Attention Token
In 2017, Brave launched the Basic Attention Token (BAT), an opt-in advertising system where users choose to view privacy-preserving ads and earn up to 70% of ad revenue as BAT tokens. Ad matching happens locally on the device so neither Brave nor advertisers learn user browsing habits. The browser is free and open-source (Chromium-based), aiming to realign incentives between users, publishers, and advertisers without requiring data collection.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Source | +toward | secondary | +0.50 |
| User Privacy | +toward | primary | +1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | +0.643 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.57)
Evidence (1 signal)
Brave launched BAT token with privacy-preserving on-device ad matching
Brave launched the Basic Attention Token (BAT) in May 2017, raising $35 million in its ICO. The opt-in ad system processes ad matching locally on the user's device, ensuring neither Brave nor advertisers learn browsing habits. Users earn up to 70% of ad revenue as BAT tokens. The browser is open-source and Chromium-based.