The Brave browser, developed by Brave Software Inc. – which is also the company behind Basic Attention Token (BAT) – has surpassed 5.5 million monthly active users and now features over 28,000 verified publishers.
The innovative company announced their accomplishment in a blog post highlighting their achievements in 2018 and shared it via Twitter.
We passed 5.5 million monthly active users and now have 28,000 Verified publishers. Along with key partnerships and product redesigns, 2018 was busy for us. We can't wait for more achievements together in 2019! https://t.co/pTTrr4ZyQD
— Brave Software (@brave) January 7, 2019
Brave Browser Accomplishments
While 5.5 million users is peanuts compared to other web browser giants like Google, with more than 2 billion monthly active users, and Bing with over 1.2 billion, it’s still quite an accomplishment for a new web browser.
Brave was only launched in 2016, and at the beginning of 2018 the browser only had around 1 million active monthly users. To reach 5.5 million by January 2019, that meant the browser grew more than 450% over the course of 2018.
The browser’s significant growth can largely be attributed to the high performance of the desktop browser, the newly launched mobile browsers for iOS and Android, and the new Brave rewards system.
According to Brave’s blog post, in 2018 they released a redesigned browser for developers that’s 22% faster than its previous version. They also saw considerable success with their mobile apps, of which 80% of all Brave users are using to browse. Their Android app has already surpassed 10 million downloads, and the iOS app is gaining major traction.
Brave also saw significant growth in the number of verified publishers contributing to the browser. At the beginning of 2018, Brave only had 4,000 verified publishers, whereas they now have over 28,000. Some of these publishers include YouTube channels and Twitch streamers who have signed up for Brave Rewards.
The Brave Rewards program allows publishers to connect with their audiences by receiving tips in Basic Attention Token (BAT) through a direct tipping functionality. The program also rewards users for browsing and giving their attention to advertisements, using BAT as an incentive to view ads and consume content.
Another Brave accomplishment in 2018 was their expanded privacy work. This past year saw repeated data breaches and scandals across several web-based platforms. This led Brave to be proactive in developing a safe and secure browser with a focus on privacy.
Brave is now integrated with Tor on their private windows, and they plan to implement privacy innovations such as SpeedReader and AdGraph in 2019.
Brave Partnerships and Industry Relations
In addition to all of the software improvements and technical innovations accomplished by Brave, the promising web browser also made numerous important partnerships in 2018.
One that stands out is with Dow Jones Media Group to bring premium content to new audiences and test blockchain technology in digital publishing. Another is with Townsquare Media to monetize ad-blocking traffic and test digital advertising solutions with the BAT platform.
Brave also partnered with HTC to be the default browser on the HTC Exodus, the world’s first blockchain phone dedicated to decentralized applications (dapps). Yet another interesting partnership is with Civic (CVC), to provide identity verification and know your customer (KYC) services to their verified publishers.
Other notable partnerships include Qwant, DuckDuckGo, and the AdLedger blockchain consortium.
Basic Attention Token (BAT)
While Brave’s browser and business showed impressive growth throughout 2018, the same can’t be said for the price of their cryptocurrency, Basic Attention Token (BAT). BAT is currently down 86% from it’s all-time high of $0.88 to its current price of $0.139.
The Basic Attention Token (BAT) is an Ethereum-based digital advertising token with a mission to radically improve the efficiency of digital advertising by rewarding content creators and users with BAT for creating and viewing content and advertisements.
The utility of the token is based on user attention, which means the token can be used to obtain a variety of advertising and attention-based services on the BAT platform.
Heading into 2019, the Brave browser and native BAT token have a lot going for them, as the company has accomplished a lot in 2018, laying the foundation for their Brave browser and BAT token to really take off.
Do you use the Brave browser? Will Brave and BAT see significant adoption in 2019? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
Download the Brave Browser.
