In the case of the Brave browser and its Basic Attention Token (BAT) withdrawal hold, we can see how capitalism can lead to exploitation of users.
Brave is a web browser that uses blockchain technology to track user attention and reward content creators with BAT. Users can earn BAT by viewing ads, and they can then withdraw their earnings to their personal wallets. However, Brave has recently implemented a withdrawal hold on BAT earnings, stating that it is necessary to “prevent fraud and protect the integrity of the system.”
While it is understandable that Brave needs to take measures to protect the integrity of its system, it is not clear why the withdrawal hold is necessary. The company has not provided any concrete evidence or specific examples of fraud, and it seems that the hold is a way for Brave to retain control over the BAT in circulation and potentially manipulate the market. This is a clear exploitation of users, as they are not able to access the earnings they have rightfully earned.
Furthermore, this withdrawal hold is a violation of the trust that users have placed in Brave. By not providing proper transparency and communication about the reasons for the hold, Brave is breaking that trust. This is an example of how capitalism can lead to a lack of accountability and transparency, as companies prioritize their own profits over the well-being of their users.
In conclusion, the withdrawal hold on BAT earnings in the Brave browser is a clear example of how capitalism can lead to exploitation of users. The company’s lack of transparency and accountability in the decision-making process is a violation of trust and a reminder of the need for more ethical and responsible business practices.
This is my second write up. I want to connect entire topic with capitalism and want to highlight capitalism’s flaws giving a good case study of Brave
Enjoy your Communism … Enjoy eating bugs … Enjoy your 15-minute cities … Enjoy your inability to have private ownership … Enjoy Hell on Earth.
As for Brave, one doesn’t have to use the Rewards Program at all … it is offered, but not required to use Brave … use what you like and turn off what you don’t like. Simple.
Thanks for taking the time to provide feedback. If you haven’t already, I’d recommend reading our blog post we’ve just released that helps to explain the reasoning for upcoming changes to Brave Rewards - https://brave.com/rewards-changes/.
Wish you’d put these out to your Nightly and Beta users before using them as guinea pigs! I know essentially for testing but think about all the complaints (including my own) you could have avoided along the way - damage mitigation, customer experience, that kinda thing?!! Somehow l continue to love you all though, just trying to be constructive.
I wish I can get a list of various creators who are currently verified. I have accrued BAT i wish to contribute now that my region is in the list of those unsupported. If you are creator, just past your link here
Please correct the spelling of Karl. It’s Karl Marx and not Carl Marx. It’s strange people having half knowledge and not even knowing to spell the correct spelling are giving knowledge about that person.
The Brave browser is a popular web browser that aims to provide users with a faster and more secure browsing experience. However, in India, the browser faced a significant setback when the company implemented a policy that prevented users from verifying their accounts and withdrawing their Basic Attention Token (BAT). This policy change led to the death of Brave browser in India, as many users were no longer able to use the browser effectively.
The Brave browser uses a unique token-based system called BAT, which rewards users for viewing advertisements and browsing the web. Users can earn BAT by using the browser, and then use it to support their favorite websites or content creators. However, in order to withdraw these earned tokens, users must first verify their account.
In India, Brave browser made the decision to stop users from verifying their accounts, citing concerns over compliance with Indian regulations. This meant that Indian users were no longer able to withdraw their earned BAT, making the browser less appealing to use.
As a result, the death of Brave browser in India was inevitable. Many users were disappointed with the policy change and chose to switch to other browsers that offered similar features and benefits. The lack of ability to withdraw earned BAT made the browser less valuable to use and many users did not see the point in continuing to use it.
In conclusion, the death of Brave browser in India was caused by the company’s decision to prevent users from verifying their accounts and withdrawing their earned BAT. This policy change made the browser less appealing to use and ultimately led to a significant decline in its popularity among Indian users.
This is my small write up for college magazine. Please do comment
What Can Be Done Now We Can’t Challenge Brave’s Decision , Brave even said that we can tip our earned bats to the creator of our choice or else the bats will be destroyed. Now the creators of our choice (mostly) will be in their region only. Also I think Brave always keeps such regions unsupported where they don’t get proper response on ads (how many people use product/service from ads).Yes, there are regional restrictions too, but this is not always the case.After all Brave is also doing business .If I talk about myself, I have not used any product from Brave Ads till now even Brave talk or Brave search . However, how can it be used because most of the ads are only and only crypto related. Now how many platforms will a user use?
By the way, I have come to the community after a long time and got this news as soon as I came.
Shouldn’t say but when I come I get nothing but disappointment
Also I think Brave should have given withdraw option to users who had connected wallet before, I know it doesn’t matter to anyone especially Brave anyway!
Note if you do not agree then do not get offended. Just ignore it
Note(just a request)
:-if you haven’t decided So give it to a platform like Wikipedia even if showing as unverified because in my experience if he joined brave and from supported region then he get bats , and don’t let it be forfeited
In the case of the Brave browser and its Basic Attention Token (BAT) withdrawal hold, we can see how capitalism can lead to exploitation of users.
Brave is a web browser that uses blockchain technology to track user attention and reward content creators with BAT. Users can earn BAT by viewing ads, and they can then withdraw their earnings to their personal wallets. However, Brave has recently implemented a withdrawal hold on BAT earnings, stating that it is necessary to “prevent fraud and protect the integrity of the system.”
While it is understandable that Brave needs to take measures to protect the integrity of its system, it is not clear why the withdrawal hold is necessary. The company has not provided any concrete evidence or specific examples of fraud, and it seems that the hold is a way for Brave to retain control over the BAT in circulation and potentially manipulate the market. This is a clear exploitation of users, as they are not able to access the earnings they have rightfully earned.
Furthermore, this withdrawal hold is a violation of the trust that users have placed in Brave. By not providing proper transparency and communication about the reasons for the hold, Brave is breaking that trust. This is an example of how capitalism can lead to a lack of accountability and transparency, as companies prioritize their own profits over the well-being of their users.
In conclusion, the withdrawal hold on BAT earnings in the Brave browser is a clear example of how capitalism can lead to exploitation of users. The company’s lack of transparency and accountability in the decision-making process is a violation of trust and a reminder of the need for more ethical and responsible business practices.
The restrictions on linking to custodial partners have been due to policies from Uphold and Gemini. This is why even in the earliest topics created by Brave, they said it was done in coordination with Gemini and Uphold.
These places have put restrictions because of increased fraud and due to the challenges created by India government. The taxation has been crazy but also the constant discussion of heavy regulation, including many politicians in India asking to make cryptocurrency illegal.
So with those places no longer allowing Brave to let Users from those regions connect, you have the policies which advanced to what you see now.
In a short-term, you’re correct. As always, there are changes being made. Brave has been working hard since June to find alternatives. Even here recently, the CEO of Brave has announced:
They can’t give any definitive answers yet, but talk of this suggests we are close to this happening (or at least to them being able to give more specific details).
This is just your opinion. Also you’re phrasing this as past tense, as if it has already happened. However there are still many Users from India using the browser and there also are plenty of advertisers who are still interested and paying. Using this as a “past tense” claim, you’re completely wrong and attempting to mislead people based on your own opinion.
Yet no other browser pays you as Brave does. Your whole article focuses only on BAT but fails to look at the other features or benefits of Brave. Also when you make a claim of people then suddenly going to other browsers that offer similar features and benefits, it’s important to realize that no other browser pays you as Brave does. This comparison of yours is a logical fallacy.
Again, you’re speaking in the past for something that has not happened. You could say the declining interest in the browser or might say that the success of the browser is diminishing under the current circumstances, but that’s about the furthest you could stretch that.
Just a reminder, it wasn’t policy change made by the browser.
No exploitation of Users here. Seems like you’re lacking a lot of understanding.
Brave has ALWAYS required you to be verified with a custodial partner to do this.
No they haven’t. You’re attempting to phrase things in a negative and misleading way consistently. People in various regions have lost the support to be able to connect to accounts with existing custodial partners. Brave has been restoring countries as fast as they can, as they work with Uphold and Gemini to try to get support for those countries back. Brave was ready to add India as soon as it was lost, but they have been prevented from doing so.
Actually, they have. In fact, we’ve even had Users here who have presented concrete examples, such as people buying and selling accounts. We’ve also had Users who have come here to admit how they lied about which country they were in because they wanted to try to earn more BAT.
As an aside, which won’t be directly related to this, I highly suggest you try to also research which countries have the highest amount of fraud. You’ll find India is #2 on almost every list you find, with only Nigeria showing as higher origin of online fraud.
I’ll just quote from that really quick, as it kind of answers.
First, vBAT was never intended to serve as a long-term store of BAT. A core assumption in our early Brave Ads abuse modeling was that vBAT would expire in order to prevent bad actors from accumulating funds across a large number of profiles, then simply waiting for an illicit avenue to open up to drain these funds out of the system. Although vBAT was originally planned to have a rolling expiry, we instead delayed it as long as possible to minimize the impact on users.
Second, because vBAT is stored locally on users’ devices after it is issued, it is impossible to tell whether some vBAT has been lost to a discarded device, abandoned upon Brave uninstall, or lost due to profile deletion, undermining the possibility of transparent and accurate accounting within the platform.
So is it about control? Not really. But it is about accounting and making sure nobody, especially Users, are getting screwed.
Brave has been quite transparent along the way. They have brave.com/transparency for a lot of things, they have been answering questions and been sharing notices here, on Reddit, and on Twitter. Brave also has been holding weekly calls where people have been able to come in and ask questions, where much has been shared. There’s not been any company with more transparency than Brave has had.
NOTE
What’s incredibly important to remember is that BAT is only a very small portion of what Brave is about. The primary focus is and always has been on Security. Brave is one of the most secure browsers on the market. Also in performance tests, Brave usually does much better than competitors. These are the primary purposes that many use Brave.
Of course, things like Brave Wallet and a lot of the web3 development is another thing catching the eyes of many people around the world, including in India.
Once upon a time, there were a group of mischievous boys who would often make fun of an old man who would sit at a bus stop near their neighborhood. The old man was tired of their constant taunts and decided to take action. He began by offering the boys money in exchange for not making fun of him. At first, the boys were excited by the prospect of easy money and they stopped teasing the old man. However, as time went on, the old man slowly decreased the amount of money he was willing to pay. As a result, the boys’ interest in making fun of the old man began to decrease as well, as their incentive of money was no longer present.
Eventually, the old man stopped paying the boys altogether, and they stopped making fun of him. The old man was finally able to sit at the bus stop in peace. This story serves as an example of how incentives can drive behavior and how removing those incentives can change that behavior.
This story can be connected to the recent incident with Brave browser, where the company has stopped paying its users in Basic Attention Token (BAT). Like the boys in the story, users were originally incentivized by the prospect of earning BAT for using the browser. However, when that incentive was removed, user behavior may change as well.
The main goal behind earning BAT in the first place was to use it, to support creators across platforms in a passive cost-efficient way by simply watching a few ads here and there.
Like with YouTube, watching content from a creator you like on Brave means, that the creator gets less to no revenue from Ads on YouTube, to counter this, a Brave user could opt in to tip said creator with his earnings.
Alternatively one could also just cash out… but that in terms never was the main goal as being a Browser that you as an individual could earn money.
A creator in terms with the power of many, could make a decent living for pouring so much time and effort in creating things.
But yes… it is also true that BAT honors your “Attention” by rewarding you with their Token. What you do with it in the end, is your own Business.
As @Dragendave already said, the main Motto for rewards was to be able to help creators and support them through BAT.Brave giving us BAT is in one way from their own pockets.
Also for stopping BAT pay for unverified wallets has been explained at
The Brave browser, which aims to provide a more private and secure browsing experience while also allowing users to earn Basic Attention Token (BAT) for viewing ads, has recently come under fire for its decision to not allow users to accumulate BAT if they have not connected a verified wallet. This policy change has raised concerns about Brave’s commitment to decentralization and fair treatment of its users.
Initially, Brave stated that users would not be able to withdraw their earnings until they verified their wallet, but content creators would still be able to accumulate and withdraw BAT. However, the company later changed its position and announced that content creators would also be unable to accumulate or withdraw BAT unless their wallets were verified. Now, Brave has gone further, stating that all accumulated BAT for users without verified wallets will disappear.
This is a clear case of Brave using its centralized power to manipulate and exploit its users. The purpose of Brave was to provide an alternative to big browsers that exploit users’ data, but it seems that Brave is now following in the same footsteps. This decision to restrict access to BAT for unverified users is a violation of the trust that users placed in the company and it undermines the decentralization promise of the platform.
The move by Brave to restrict access to BAT is a major disappointment to the community and it could have serious implications for the company’s future. It is important for Brave to be transparent and fair in its policies, and to respect the rights and autonomy of its users. If Brave continues to use its centralized power in this way, it risks losing the support of its users and damaging its reputation as a decentralized platform.
In conclusion, the Brave’s decision to restrict access to BAT for unverified users is a clear case of the company using its centralized power to exploit and manipulate its users. This undermines the decentralization promise of the platform and it could have serious implications for the company’s future. Brave must be transparent and fair in its policies and respect the rights and autonomy of its users
As we all know, the internet has given us the power to access information, connect with people and share our ideas and thoughts with the world. However, in order for the internet to continue to be a powerful tool for expression and creativity, it is important that we support systems that value and compensate content creators for their contributions.
Sadly, the Brave browser, which is gaining popularity in India, is not one of those systems. Brave is a browser that blocks ads and trackers, which is great for privacy, but it also has a built-in cryptocurrency called Basic Attention Token (BAT) that it uses to compensate content creators. However, the reality is that the vast majority of creators, including those in India, are not being paid by Brave.
This is a serious problem, as it devalues the hard work and creativity of creators, and it also undermines the principle of a fair and just internet. By using Brave, you are supporting a system that exploits and devalues the contributions of creators.
I urge you to stop using the Brave browser, and instead consider using a browser that values and compensates creators for their contributions. There are many other browsers that are just as privacy-friendly and have better systems in place to compensate creators, such as Firefox or Chrome.
In the end, our choices as internet users can have a real impact on the way creators are treated and compensated. By choosing to use a browser that values creators, we can help ensure that the internet remains a powerful tool for expression and creativity.
Let’s support creators and make the internet a better place for everyone."
Really? Tell when and where Firefox or Chrome compensates creators. I am not aware of any rewards campaign for Firefox. And Chrome only compensates those who advertise on its behalf.
It would be quite useful if you would share all that info here, instead of just being generic about it.
