By Tom Alford Apr 09, 2018

Basic Attention Token (BAT) Cryptocurrency – The Ultimate Guide

About this guide: Our BAT cryptocurrency guide will tell you everything you need to know. We’ll explain what BAT is, what it does and give our opinion on the project. As always, we do urge caution before making any cryptocurrency investments and encourage you to do your own research.

What Is BAT Cryptocurrency?

The first thing you need to know is that BAT is the shorthand for Basic Attention Token. It is a transparent digital advertising platform that is built on the Ethereum blockchain. The project has been hailed by many as ‘The future of advertising on the internet’.

The current advertising system actually hurts publishers, advertisers and users. The publishers and advertisers don’t usually communicate directly and a middleman takes a big fee to facilitate an ad deal. This hurts the profitability of both advertisers and publishers, with middlemen like Facebook and Google taking 73% of all ad dollars.

From a user point of view, we are literally paying for the privilege of seeing ads. How is this happening? It’s been shown that some media sites have up to 70 different trackers on their sites to monitor your activity. These deplete your phone battery, slow down pages loads and ultimately increase your data costs. This has been shown to cost internet users up to $23 per month.

A lot of users are fed up with intrusive ads and have tried to protect themselves through using ad blockers. This type of software is now installed on 600 million devices worldwide and is still rising. This trend in turn hurts publishers from decreasing ad revenues and can lead to reductions in content quality for users.

The Basic Attention Token platform has been created to usher in a new system of advertising for the internet. According to the guys at BAT the solution is to create a decentralised, transparent ad exchange based on the blockchain

The Basic Attention Token gets its value from user attention and therefore digitalises it. What on earth do you mean by attention? Attention is just focused mental engagement on an advertisement or great content.

How Will Basic Attention Token Be Used?

The BAT team’s master plan has two stages. The first involves integration with the Brave Browser, which enables users to browse the internet like Google Chrome. What makes the Brave Browser different is that it blocks ads and trackers from websites (unless the user agrees to viewing these). The Browser also anonymously and privately monitors your attention, as you view pages and can do this in a way that is highly accurate and private.

The Brave Browser has a blockchain ledger system that rewards website publishers with BAT for user attention (the site has engaging content). It also rewards users with BAT for choosing to view ads, which they can donate to their favourite publishers to sponsor the creation of more content that they love. Alternatively, they can sell Basic Attention Tokens for cash, on cryptocurrency exchanges.

The second stage involves the creation of a decentralised, transparent digital ad exchange on the blockchain. This serves as a marketplace for advertisers and publishers, which cuts out the annoying middleman and creates efficiencies. This exchange requires a new currency for user attention and this is where BAT comes in. This means that advertisers will need to buy BAT to serve their ads on publisher websites.

The ad exchange is still in development, but this really does have the potential to revolutionise the online ad industry. It also puts more money in publishers pockets, which means they can produce more of the content users actually want to consume.

Publishers may also choose to charge users Basic Attention Tokens to view premium content. This would further increase demand and adoption of the cryptocurrency. The great thing with BAT is that the project is entirely open source and auditable, this means it has accountability and transparency.

The Brave Browser & BAT

Brave Browser Key Facts:

• Never see another ad again – unless you want to.
• Blocks trackers – your device will not be slowed down and your privacy will be protected.
• A fairer ad ecosystem – In time you will be rewarded in BAT if you choose to view ads. You are the value for advertisers. Why shouldn’t you get a share?
• Supported operating systems – IOS Android, MAC, Windows and Linux.
• Help create the future of internet advertising.

Get The Browser With Your Best Interests At Heart.

Brave browser integration is the current focus of the BAT. However, the team does plan on integrating the platform into other web browsers through the use of extensions and other applications like games and messaging apps. This means that the future success of BAT is not entirely dependent on the Brave Browser.

How does Basic Attention Token Integrate with the Brave Browser?

BAT does this in two ways:

BAT Ads

In the future, users of the Brave Browser that opt into BAT ads will receive a share of advertising revenue and this is credited in Basic Attention Tokens. Right now, users cannot earn and cashout BAT for viewing ads.

How Do I Enable Brave Ads?

Once you have installed and launched the Brave Browser, just click the Lion icon on the top right and select ‘Show Brave Ads’ in the Ad Control section. This turns on Ads for a specific website.

You can enable Brave Ads for all websites you view by going into preferences, selecting shields and enabling ‘Show Brave Ads’.   

Brave Payments

These enable users to support their favourite content creators, even if you have blocked their ads. The Brave payment program works out the users value and rewards website owners with BAT in exchange for user attention whilst using the browser. This means that if you spend a lot of time enjoying a website, you can make sure the website owner is rewarded through donations and can create more of that content you like.

How Do I Turn On Brave Payments?

Once you have installed the Brave browser, you will be taken to the Brave homepage. Just scroll down and you will see a button to ‘Start using Brave payments’.

Just switch the slider to ‘On’.

You can then select the websites you wish to contribute to and add funds to donate.

To add funds click the ‘Add funds’ button and select the cryptocurrency you wish to transfer. Please note you can only transfer funds to publishers right now and cannot withdraw any deposit funds back to your crypto wallet.

You will then be given a send address to process your payment to and fund your Brave Wallet.

The Team

Investors and users alike, need to see a project with an awesome vision and a team they think is capable of executing it. The Basic Attention Token team 15 strong and they can also draw on the experience of four highly qualified advisors. For now, we will just focus on the BAT top brass:

Founder, Vision, Strategy – Brendan Eich: What can we say, he is an absolute superstar. Brendan’s career achievements include creating Javascript, one of the most popular programming languages in the world. He then went on to Co-found Mozilla and Firefox, before getting started on the BAT project. There is little doubt that his experience at Mozilla and Firefox will transfer well to the Basic Attention Token project.

Engineering Lead – Brian Bondy: Previously worked at Khan Academy, Mozilla and Evernote. With such well recognised companies on his CV, we are assured that Brian knows his way around a keyboard.

Security & Privacy Engineering – Yan Zhu: In her spare time she is a fellow at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Her career has seen her work for Yahoo, Tor project, HTTPS Everywhere and Privacy Badger. If you are looking for someone fill a security and privacy engineering position, you have to ask yourself if you can find much better than Yan?

BAT Smart Contracts & Economics – Scott Locklin: Co-founder of Kerf Software, which focuses on big data and solving analytic problems. Scott also has a focus on machine learning, forecasting and quantitative finance. We are pretty sure he has the know how to excel in his role at BAT.

The Future Of Basic Attention Token

We think there is a massive need for the disruption of the current online advertising model. It’s quite obvious to us that the current model only benefits the big middlemen like Facebook.

? Users:

• Up to 50% of the average users mobile data is being taken up by ads and trackers, costing the user as much as $23 per month.
• Ads slow down the browsing experience and make it less enjoyable.
• Apparently ads decrease phone battery life by as much as 21%.
• Increasing spread of malware – think about all those people’s devices that were hijacked to mine Monero.
• Websites are tracking our every move with trackers. Surely we have the right to privacy?

? Publishers:

• Are being squeezed by middlemen like Facebook and Google, who take 73% of all ad revenue.
• Bots are causing billions of dollars in fraud per year.
• 600 million users now use ad block software, this squeezes publishers ad revenues.
• Ad revenue has recently decreased by 66%.

? Advertisers

• Marketers are committing marketing spend and do not know what they are paying for.
• Advertisers are being taken advantage of with fake websites and bots.
• A lot of users are being shown irrelevant ads, which are then obviously ignored.

If BAT can get the adoption needed to operate at scale, then we think the project could change the entire online advertising industry. We will let BAT outline their own roadmap, it’s on you to decide if it’s exciting and credible:

The BAT ICO

The BAT ICO took place on the 1st May 2017. Incredibly the project raised $35 million in just 24 seconds. The almost instant sell out at ICO shows how strongly the project has been backed by the cryptocurrency community.

The Basic Attention Token team also revealed how the funds raised would be spent and gave us this breakdown:

• BAT Team – 58%
• Administration – 10%
• Marketing – 12%
• Contractors – 13%
• Contingency – 7%

Should I Invest In Basic Attention Token?

Only you can make the call on whether to invest in BAT, it’s your money. However, we are happy to give you our thoughts on the project:

Pros

• We think BAT has a great team. Notable superstars include Brendan Eich and Yan Zhu.
• There are major problems with the online advertising market and that the current system is unlikely to sustain itself for long. We believe BAT offers a credible solution and have a team with the expertise to pull it off.
• We like BAT as a system that puts users back in control. It seems only right that users can opt in and out of ads and tracking. This also protects user privacy.
• The online advertising market is huge. Experts have been claiming that the current value of the global market is around $560 billion per year. Also this market is expanding year on year. There is no doubt in our mind that Basic Attention Token is targeting a very lucrative sector.
• CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong came out on Twitter in support of BAT.
  

Cons:

• It remains to be seen what action the advertising middlemen will take if BAT starts gaining traction. It seems unlikely they will go down without a fight.
• Getting users to switch web browser takes longer than you think. Thinking back to the time of Internet Explorer, it took many years for the majority of users to switch over to Google Chrome. We have a feeling the same problem will be faced by the Brave Browser and this may mean mass adoption takes longer than expected.
• BAT is going after a massive market and will have competition from other projects. It remains to be seen if the project will reign supreme, even if the idea is mass adopted.
  

How To Buy Basic Attention Token (BAT)?

Check this guide out. We have put together a separate step by step guide with complete instructions on exactly how to buy and store Basic Attention Token (BAT) using different methods.

Conclusion

We think the Basic Attention Token project is trying to solve a very real problem and is likely to resonate with anyone who gets annoyed by intrusive ads. BAT is also going after one of the most lucrative markets on the planet and is aiming to disrupt it.

It does seem that publishers are increasingly being squeezed, with more and more resorting to begging for donations from users with intrusive ads. We have high hopes that BAT can be the project that makes the online user experience better, whilst enabling great content producers to keep doing what their doing.

At Total Crypto, we are exceptionally excited to see the level of Brave Bowser adoption and what other partnerships Basic Attention Token can make. Brave have already completed a successful adoption drive on YouTube with 7,500 verified YouTube channels with a combined subscriber total of 150 million. They are now focusing on replicating this success on Twitch.

We do believe that projects such as BAT are attempting to make the internet a freer, fairer and better place and will be following it closely in the future.

Resources

Below we’ve listed some key resources relevant to Basic Attention Token (BAT).

? Safest BAT Wallets

Hardware wallets are the safest crypto storage solutions available. These wallets store your private keys and do not expose them to the outside world, making your crypto as safe as possible. Maybe you should treat your crypto like the million dollars it could well be worth one day?

• Grab Yourself A Ledger
• Grab Yourself A Trezor

Can’t decide if Trezor or Ledger is best for you? Just check out our Ledger Vs Trezor comparison guide.

? Best Free Wallets

As BAT is a ERC-20 token, you can use any wallet that is compatible with Ethereum.

• MyEtherWallet – Struggling? We cover everything in our MEW step by step walkthrough.
• Exodus – Need help? Just check out our dedicated Exodus wallet guide.

? Best Apps To Track Your BAT Investment

• Blockfolio
  • IOS
  • Android
• Delta
  • IOS
  • Android

Useful Links

• Official site
• White paper
• Block explorer service
• Twitter
• Reddit

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About The Author

Tom Alford

Tom is a cryptocurrency expert and investor from Edinburgh, United Kingdom, with over 5 years of experience in the field. He holds an MA in diplomacy and BA in politics from the University of Nottingham, giving him a firm understanding of the social implications and political factors in cryptocurrency. He believes in long-term projects rather than any short term gains, and is a strong advocate of the future application of blockchain technology.Contact Tom: tom@totalcrypto.io