Some (VERY rudimentary) Basics Please

Hello,

I’ve only made one post yesterday (still waiting for a response) so far on this forum. I have perused the forum about these “BAT Rewards” and have not found any answers to an extremely basic question(s).

  1. What is BAT reward? It looks like an acronym. If so, what does it stand for?
  2. What is it used for?
  3. What is it’s purpose?
  4. How does one get tokens?

I have never heard of any browser paying people in tokens (or any other type of currency for that matter) for using it. I’ve never even heard of such a thing. All the questions on the forum re: the rewards, start with the assumption that everyone knows and completey understands the BAT reward system, what it’s for, and how they get them.

Can I exchange it for real money? Is it a cryptocurrency? Can I only use it amongst & with other Brave users/members? Is there a secret handshake before being able to use them? Will I one day read in the news that the 2nd richest man in the world acquired all his wealth via BAT Rewards? Inquiring minds want to know.

Just for some clarification: I am pretty close to a technological 1d10t (as probably my first question about bookmarks will reveal because Im sure there is an EXTREMELY simple solution which utterly, completely, & totally evades me). So this is all new to me even though I’ve been using the www since the early '90s. I turn my computer on, open up a browser, and im off to the races. That is how I have only EVER used a browser. Ive never heard of people getting paid to use a browser before.

Thank you in advance.

Cordially,

Varick.

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You should be able to find most answers on the brave .com actual website, but I can sum it up for you.

  1. BAT stands for Basic Attention Token.
  2. You receive BAT for viewing or clicking on the brave privacy respected ads that show up when they do. It is basically rewarding users for using the browser and by seeing ads they partner with. You need not participate in these ads if you do not wish to, you can disable them.
  3. The purpose is kinda as i mentioned above, to reward the user for using the browser and viewing their ads as opposed to the invasive ads that show on some other websites while browsing with another browser, hence the ones that show up as pop ups or other forms when viewing certain websites.
  4. One gets tokens by simply having the ads system turned on. You can view the ad and it counts, or click on it if you so desire. Clicking on it is not necessary and does not affect payment. One can also become a creator and other people can tip you BAT as well.
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I should further mention, there are ways to get your account flagged which most commonly is using VPNs outside your country. So do not use VPNs. Also not every country legally can give out BAT. Such as N. Korea for example. Some custodians to cash out your BAT hence Uphold or Gemini may also not be avaialble in your area so I would check that out. If you are in US for example, I belive New York is a good example not working with Uphold.

Next most important thing to note is there is a device limit for Uphold and Gemini. A max of 4. So if you constanly reformat computers or buy new cellphones every year, I would caution which devices you choose to connect to uphold or gemini. As there is only a lifetime limit of 4. Change should be coming to rid these limits, however, at this time they still exist.

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There is a lot of helpful information in the Brave Help Center

A good place to start would be this article. If something really catches your interest, just follow the additional links to even more information! :smiley:

Quickstart guide: New to Brave? Start here!

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this is a decent video overview, it is a bit outdated though.

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Ok, you’ve had answers and decent references, but let me try to fill in the blanks and correct some things here. I’ll do multiple comments so I don’t have one incredibly long post/comment .

  1. BAT stands for Basic Attention Token. It is a type of cryptocurrency called a Utility Token. You can think of a utility token similar to that of tickets at a fair, casino tokens at a casino, or old fashioned arcade tokens at an arcade. Legally and technically, it has absolutely no monetary value. That said, people still buy and sell it which creates its market share as you see.

  2. This is a tricky one. At its heart, BAT is like a customer rewards program that gives you points just by using the browser and allowing them to show ads that they are getting paid to show us. We can use those in a few different ways and they are ever expanding.

    • You can use it on https://brave.mytaprewards.com/ to enter sweepstakes, get gift cards, spin a wheel for potential prizes, etc.
    • Also in development is Pay with BAT which will allow websites to accept BAT instead of money for subscriptions or special Brave only perks.
    • We are also given the option to “Tip” creators, meaning we can hand our BAT over to them for their own use.
    • These also have been selling on place like Gemini and Uphold. You can think of it similar to Pokemon cards and all of that stuff. They have value and prices change, but how much they sell for and who wants to buy it is all based on rarity and how many people are interested. In the same way though, if you took it to a bank or store, you couldn’t use it to buy anything.
  3. There are a few things at its purpose, but I’ll list the two primary

    • To incentivize people to use and stay with Brave
    • To offer a new business model where users have a choice in ads they are shown and are paid for having to see them, rather than the old business model of websites throwing tons of ads and popups at us. While Brave is paying participating sites regardless, this business model does rely on us tipping rather than keeping 100% for ourselves.
    • (Bonus answer) To get a profit for Brave
  4. One gets tokens by registering for Brave Rewards. By registering I’m referring to downloading the Brave browser and then turning Brave Rewards on AND making sure we can see the ads it shows (like making sure Focus Assist doesn’t block their notifications and all).

There are two primary places that ads show up.

  • In your notifications window. For PC that’s bottom right, on Android it’s notifications on top, etc.
  • In the New Tab page when you open a New Tab in Brave.

You’re not guaranteed ads and the pay for each ad you see will differ. Currently they tend to average about 0.005 BAT but you can see the ads in your region and what they pay at https://sampson.codes/brave/ads/my_region/

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I answered this above, but yes, you can exchange it for real money. It’s also important to realize that when you do, the exchanges that are used for BAT right now are reporting to governments. So if you’re in the United States, for example, they will let the IRS know if you exchanged it. Each government has different rules as to whether it can be taxed and how. Some classify it as property, some as currency, etc. Most likely these will be small amounts and no big deal, but I did want to point that out as they could, even if unlikely, come for their taxes.

Also depending on where you sell it or how you send to people, there are fees. So you need to always keep an eye out on that.

Utility Tokens do fall under the term of cryptocurrency, but there’s a LOT of terms that differentiate them and are important to study. These are coins, utility token, and security token for example. All have different values and origins, with Utility Token being the most unstable one with no innate value in itself. Some may try to argue, but where I say it and have proof is things like:

The token is not a digital currency, security or a commodity. To learn more about how the BAT platform is working with the Brave browser, please see below.

The tokens do not represent or confer any ownership right or stake, share or security or equivalent rights, or any right to receive future revenue shares, intellectual property rights or any other form of participation in or relating to the BAT platform, and/or Brave and its affiliates. The tokens are not refundable and are not intended to be a digital currency, security, commodity or any other kind of financial instrument.

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You don’t get anything for clicking on ads. The only pay you get is just letting them be generated in your notifications. There’s no harm in clicking them if you’re interested, but otherwise Brave suggests you only click on them if you genuinely care about that particular ad.

And yeah, that’s something I left out. You can become a Publisher where you get paid by Brave based on the amount of time people spend on your website. Or you can become a Creator, such as having your own channel on YouTube or whatever, in which case people are able to tip you in order to show their support and keep your content active. Those are different than base Rewards and there’s a lot more to look into for that.

Don’t take that literally. Big thing is the part they mentioned right before, which is that using VPN to bypass ad restrictions or to view ads in a region outside of the one you’re in is a violation and can get you flagged. So if you use a VPN, make sure it matches the region you are accessing from. (also important, make sure your IP address and Locale match. If your computer says you’re in North America, your IP address says you’re in England, and you’re actually in France on vacation…it will have problems, lol)

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Thank you to everyone who has replied. I now have a much greater understanding of what this is all about. I really like what Brave has done and will do everything I can to support it. Thank you again.

Cordially,

Varick

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