Basic Attention Token
What is the Basic Attention Token?
BAT stands for "Basic Attention Token." BAT is (first of all) a utility token and an ad exchange program integrated into the Brave web browser. It's decentralized, open-source, and based on the Ethereum blockchain. These features make it unique. The team's current goals working with BAT are to expand it into other more popular, mainstream web browsers.
BAT History
BAT was created by Brendan Eich and then further developed by Brave Software. That being said, it is worth mentioning that these two projects are separate works.
The whole concept of the token is that it aims to eliminate (or, instead, evade) any fraud or intermediaries associated with the traditional digital advertising methods.
The Basic Attention Token creator had a clear vision to help customers, advertisers, and users. He emphasized the goal of avoiding any discomfort while using the web. Eventually, he decided to create an ecosystem with the solemn purpose of accomplishing precisely that. After some time passed from the BAT tokens' creation and distribution, BAT integrated elements into a specific web browser - the Brave browser, to be exact. The developers designed these elements to fit the Brave Payment program. Up to that point, it used Bitcoin as the main currency of transactions. Even though the BAT tokens are most commonly used and associated with the Brave web browser, it is not limited to it. BAT can be implemented into other web browsers as well.
Team
Let’s start off with the man himself, Brendan Eich.
Let us ask you a question, what is the essential programming language for one to learn, especially in this modern era? While you can make a case for the classics like C++. Java etc., we believe that JavaScript needs to be up for consideration as well.
Think about this, before JavaScript came along, websites used to be overly static. JavaScript brought along the era of more user-friendly and dynamic websites. When you keep this in context and realize how much business is done online, you can see why you can make such a strong case for JavaScript.
Do you know who created JavaScript? Yup…Brendan Eich.
However, that’s not the only significant contribution that he has made. He was also the man behind Mozilla Firefox, one of the most popular browsers in the world.
Along with Eich, Brian Brondy is the other co-founder. He was also involved with Mozilla Firefox. He was instrumental in Evernote and Khan Academy as well.
Yan Zhu is in charge of security and privacy. Zhu is part of Forbes 30 under 30. She has an imposing resume and was part of Yahoo’s security engineering team from 2014-2015. She was also elected to the World Wide Web Consortium’s Technical Architecture Group (TAG).
As you can see, the team is full of extremely competent engineers and scientists, which gives it a considerable boost over other projects. The very fact that they have proper researchers on the helm who have “been there and done that” should give you enough confidence in their ability.
How Does 'BAT' Work?
Users, publishers, and advertisers usually come to the Brave web browser with Basic Attention Tokens in mind. This web browser turns into an isolated ecosystem of a sort.
Publishers put out the content that they create. Advertisers then come to the publishers and offer them a specific amount of BATs. They decide on this amount according to the measured user's attention.
Users then, in turn, receive some BATs for participating. They have two options now: they can either donate these BAT tokens to the publisher, or use them on the platform.
The main idea here is straightforward: the tokens keep all user data safe and private while simultaneously providing more specific, personalized ads. And this is only from the user side of things!
Publishers benefit from Basic Attention Tokens because they experience considerably less fraud while maximizing their reward potential in the process. Advertisers, in turn, receive much better and more precise reports in addition to increased performance.
BAT User Growth
After the ICO ended, the next big step was to tackle the user growth problem.
The BAT token project's team gave away (well, maybe 'distributed' would be a better term to use here) 300,000 tokens at the end of 2017. After that, the company organized giveaways, referral programs, etc.
These business moves were a big success. The new user pool expanded rapidly. Now users even come onboard without any financial motive - they do it out of pure interest and excitement over the Basic Attention Token.
BAT Wallet
BAT wallets are quite specific - they’re called Brave wallets and hosted on the Brave web browser. The primary purposes of these wallets are to hold your BAT tokens and perform other various transactions.
To create this kind of wallet, you should, first of all, open your Brave web browser and navigate to the Preferences window. Another way to do this is to type about: preferences in the address bar.
After that, you have to toggle payments “ON.” This can be done by selecting the Brave Payments option on the left panel. It might take a few minutes, but that’s it - you officially have your Brave wallet!
If you already have some cryptocurrency in your possession, you can easily add it to your (now existing) Basic Attention Token wallet. All you need to do is select the type of currency that you want to add, copy its address and initiate the transaction. A few extra minutes might pass, and then - voila! - you now have funds in your Brave wallet.
The BAT tokens are based on the Ethereum network. This means that ETH transactions tend to be relatively faster, especially compared to other cryptocurrencies.
You can also add these tokens to other cryptocurrency wallets, with one condition - these wallets have to support Ethereum-based transactions. And yet, when placed together with the Brave wallet, these fall in comparison.
The developers designed these wallets specifically for the Basic Attention Tokens, making the whole ordeal *that* much faster and easier.
Why BAT?
As I've mentioned in the previous chapters, the BAT token has a wide variety of usages, making it very attractive to all different kinds of users. Now I'd like to give you some simple examples of why specific groups of people might want to use the BAT tokens.
Advertisers:
Advertisers are incentivized to integrate the Basic Attention Tokens into their list of ads. They are granted a unique ability to receive factual data and other various analytics. The BAT token uses many different tools (i.e., attention measurement systems, machine learning-based algorithms, etc.) to extract as much clear and specific data as possible. This gives the advertisers a unique opportunity to receive objective data about how their particular ads are doing. This, in turn, lets them create more personalized, user-friendly advertisements in the future.
Users:
Users participate in a " give-to-receive " type of scenario when using the Brave web browser and interacting with the BAT tokens; users participate in a "give-to-receive" kind of strategy. When a user views advertisement, he gets a specific amount of BAT tokens as compensation for his time. He then, in turn, can choose what he wants to do with these tokens. Some users may choose to spend these tokens (as a form of payment) on a wide variety of services. Others might 'donate' them right back to the publisher.
Publisher:
A publisher is compensated by both the advertisers and the users. This creates a vast incentive further to expand the publishing platforms for various kinds of advertisers. Publishers also get feedback from the users, which then lets them hand-pick the ads (and even the advertisers) they want to display and work with. Some of the more well-known publishers that work with and accept Basic Attention Tokens include The Washington Post, Vimeo, vice.
Also, it should be mentioned that getting BAT coins on Binance is super simple. Just make sure that you're keeping them in a secure cryptocurrency wallet, such as Ledger Nano S and Trezor.
Security and Tipping
The beauty in such a three-way system lies in the simplicity of the actions, as mentioned earlier. BAT tokens store all of the gathered data locally. Third parties cannot involve themselves in these processes (neither in a transaction nor data analyses). So what does this mean?
A BAT type of ecosystem almost eliminates all possibility of fraud or scam. This is a huge factor when dealing with online marketplaces.
Users, advertisers, and publishers are safe when it comes to ill intent. No one should be able to scam and steal their funds and assets.
Another fantastic perk of the Basic Attention Tokens is that it allows tipping. This option works similarly to sites like Patron - you can simply tip your favourite content creators (YouTubers, bloggers, Twitch streamers, etc.) at any given time.
It eliminates third-party involvement (in this case, that would be a site like Patron). By doing that, BAT tipping maximises the amount of tip received by the content creator. People tip in the form of the BAT tokens - this way, BAT token development and evolution process become even faster.
Development Status and Future Plans:
As outlined in their roadmap, the BAT team intends to continue improving their attention measuring algorithms and their targeted ads' accuracy. Another goal is to get BAT integrated into other platforms such as other web browsers, communication, and social media apps.
Onboarding new users is a significant hurdle for both cryptocurrencies and web browsers alike and is a priority for these projects. The BAT team intends to achieve this via their donation of BAT to new users. From the "User Growth Pool (UGP)," creating revenue for content providers and advertisers through the use of these donated tokens.
To increase privacy for users of the system, zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP) are yet another plan in the works. ZKP will allow for token transfers which hide sender, receiver, and amounts from the blockchain.
How is BAT different from other cryptocurrencies?
Unlike every other crypto coin, the BAT coin entirely focuses on its Brave browser:
- The Brave browser is an open-source and privacy-focused browser. It has specifically been designed to block trackers and such malware.
- With the blockchain's help, Brave automatically and anonymously blocks ads and trackers, providing a faster and safer user-friendly experience than current browsers.
- Brave privately monitors user attention and accordingly rewards publishers with BATs. The more proficient their content is at gaining user attention, the greater the publisher's revenue. The users to be given their shares of BATs for their participation.
Moreover, Brave is also useful in utilizing anonymous user attention to aid advertisers in targeting fraud reduction.
Conclusion
BAT and Brave are both unique ideas trying to revolutionise an industry that desperately needs it. The advertising methods that once worked are no longer relevant and often create the opposite of their intended effects.
As our society spends more and more time interacting online, we are also becoming more efficient at routing around inconvenience and protecting our privacy. To give our attention, we must be genuinely engaged by either the presenter or the product. This is why targeting the correct product in a way that respects privacy is so important.
There’s no way to know if BAT is the right solution to the problem at this early stage. Still, at the very least, it is a step in the right direction and possibly a glimpse into what the future of marketing may look like.