

To attract content creators to its platform, it handed out promotional BAT to YouTube and Twitch users on a first-come-first-served basis. Brave followed suit, raising $35 million in less than 30 seconds after launching its own currency called Basic Attention Token (BAT). In 2017, the popularity of cryptocurrency skyrocketed with many holding Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) to take advantage. This happened because users were reluctant to part with their hard-earned Bitcoin.

The growth of the browser stalled soon after the release of the Brave Payments service, where users receiving Bitcoin could send the currency directly to content publishers. They were also paid in Bitcoin, with the total amount reliant on how many ad impressions they’d received. Initially, the browser came preloaded with around 250 advertisements.Īs the user surfed the internet, they sent a detailed browsing history log back to the company for the purpose of testing said functionality. In June 2018, the company released a pay-to-surf version of Brave. What’s more, Brave offers protection against malware and phishing scams. Like Google Chrome, Brave is based on the Chromium codebase.īrave Software was founded in 2015 by Brian Bondy and Brendan Eich, with the first Brave Browser launched in January of the following year.īrave is privacy-centric, with the browser blocking ads by default and refraining from tracking cookies or collecting IP addresses.
