Am I really the only one using this browser, that is amazed at the ridiculous product design direction for Brave Rewards?
What is the main mission of Brave, and what is the reason I should use Brave over all other browsers out there? I believe it’s to be anonymous on the internet, and be in control of my data. And to earn value for my attention to advertising.
So if this statement is true, let’s look at BAT tokens; the way that I am rewarded for my attention and interaction with advertising on the internet, and one of the main reasons the mass market will use the Brave browser.
When I try and take control over my BAT tokens that the Brave browser says I have earned, I get this message:
Verifying wallet allows you to manage your funds more efficiently.
You need to have minimum 25 BAT to create an Uphold account. Please try again later.
If you already have a verified Uphold account, continue to login.
Let’s brake down how detrimental this is to the user experience of Brave and BAT, and how it goes directly against the whole ethos of crypto currency and blockchain technology (distributed free of censoring).
- Verifying my wallet does not “let me mangement my funds more effectively”, it let’s some private company I have no relation to, get my personal information - like my Gmail address. I have had no need to “verify” any other crypto currency wallet to “manage my funds” more effectively. It’s just pure bullshit - and us nerds who have been in the internet game since the 1990 knows this. Noobs will not question it, but we (nerds and knowledgeable) needs to do it for them. Just as Satoshi made the blockchain open and available to all - because the monetary system is flawed. It’s a bullshit sentence. Take a look at Exodus Wallet and tell me how providing them my personal information makes it more effective for me to use.
1.1) Filling me with bullshit out the gate (because I am not a noob), makes me trust the Brave team less. Not more. And I should trust you more in every interaction, not less.
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Why do I need to have a minimum of anything in my account, to control my earned value? Let’s just say it’s because of “good reasons”, then I am not able to take control of my earned BAT until more than 40 months from now. I’ve made 2.25 BAT in 4 months. You might be imposing minimums because you don’t want to pay ETH fee’s from tiny transactions, but this is not the way to do it. This message about the minimum tells me, that I am not in control - which is the exact oppesite of what you need to be telling me as a new user.
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“…create an Uphold account. […] If you already have a verified Uphold account…” What was that? A verified Uphold account? What? I’m just looking to take the BAT I see displayed on the screen, and put them into whatever other wallet I want. I have no relationship with the private company Uphold, and verified account sounds like my personal information going directly out into some company I don’t know or trust. The users (myself including) of Brave have a relationship to the Brave browser company, not Uphold company. And again, you (Brave team) are going directly against your own ethos, by asking me to give my personal information to some company I don’t know - which is the entire thing I’m trying to escape by using Brave browser.
I was in a seminar with Jared Spool (UX professional), and he talked about people sticking beans up their noses. I’m contributing the above viewpoint because I hope, that you won’t put that bean up your nose. That you will rectify this insane strategic product direction with using 1) Minimums 2) A private company wallet service instead of your own, or a fork of another wallet.
Thank you for an awesome browser, but I think we could be a much broader community if you stick by your core values - at least for your core offerings if nothing else.