Basic Attention Token (BAT) is the native cryptocurrency of a blockchain-based digital advertising platform. The system aims to fairly compensate users for their attention while offering advertisers improved efficiency in their advertising budgets. The platform operates through the Brave Browser, where users can view privacy-focused advertisements and earn BAT rewards. Advertisers benefit from targeted ad delivery that reduces losses from fraud and misuse. Within this ecosystem, BAT serves as the primary medium of exchange between advertisers, publishers, and users. Advertisers fund campaigns using BAT tokens, with 70% of the budget distributed to users and a smaller portion going to publishers. The system eliminates traditional intermediaries to improve cost efficiency. The project launched in 2017 after completing one of the fastest initial coin offerings (ICOs) at the time, raising $35 million in under a minute. The platform has since expanded its advertising program, called Brave Rewards, to users in numerous countries. The United States, United Kingdom, and Canada have shown particularly strong advertiser participation. Basic Attention Token was co-founded by Brendan Eich and Brian Bondy, both prominent figures in the internet browsing software industry. Brendan Eich serves as CEO of Brave Software, Inc., the company behind the Brave browser and Basic Attention Token. Before joining Brave, Eich was the founder and CTO of Mozilla and the creator of JavaScript in 1995. He also played a key role in launching Mozilla Firefox in 2004. Brian Bondy is the CTO of both Brave and Basic Attention Token. With extensive engineering experience, Bondy previously worked as a senior software engineer at Mozilla, a software developer at Corel Corporation, and a software development lead at Khan Academy. Together, Eich and Bondy bring over 50 years of combined software development expertise. The Basic Attention Token team consists of 16 members, most of whom specialize in development, engineering, or research. The Basic Attention Token (BAT) serves as a payment method for advertising campaigns within the Brave Ads platform. Advertisers are required to commit to a minimum monthly spend to launch campaigns, with plans for a self-serve platform that may offer more flexible options in the future. Advertisers must fund their campaigns exclusively using BAT, which can be obtained from third-party exchanges. Brave retains a small portion of the ad spend as a commission, while the remainder is distributed to publishers and users. A key feature of the BAT and Brave Browser ecosystem is the ability to reward users outside the network, including websites and individual social media accounts. These recipients can later register to claim their accumulated rewards. The Brave Browser and BAT have seen substantial adoption since their introduction, with millions of active users and hundreds of thousands of wallets holding the token. (Note: Specific numerical figures related to user counts and wallet holdings have been generalized to maintain an evergreen tone.) Basic Attention Token has a fixed maximum supply of 1.5 billion tokens. This supply cannot be increased without deploying a new token smart contract. The majority of these tokens are already in circulation, making Basic Attention Token nearly fully diluted. During its 2017 initial coin offering (ICO), 1 billion BAT tokens were sold to investors. The remaining supply was allocated as follows: 200 million tokens were reserved for development, and 300 million were set aside for the user growth pool (UGP). Both the development pool and UGP have since been nearly depleted. The Basic Network Token (BAT) is an ERC-20 token built on the Ethereum blockchain. As an ERC-20 token, BAT operates on Ethereum's proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism, which is secured by a decentralized network of miners. This consensus mechanism validates transactions to ensure only legitimate ones are processed. Once confirmed, BAT transactions become irreversible due to the security provided by Ethereum's mining network. (Note: Links and references to external platforms have been removed to maintain neutrality and focus on factual information.) Basic Attention Token (BAT) is available for trading on multiple well-known cryptocurrency exchanges, with strong liquidity. Major platforms such as Binance, Coinbase Pro, and Huobi Global support BAT transactions. BAT can be acquired directly with fiat currency through various brokers or traded against fiat pairs on exchanges like Kraken and Bithumb. Discover **Decentr (DEC)** — a blockchain-powered web browser and web 3.0 portal. Learn about **AdEx Network (ADX)** — a decentralized advertising platform built on blockchain technology. For insights into cryptocurrency, explore **DroomDroom** — a comprehensive resource for crypto knowledge. Stay informed with the latest news, analyses, and updates on blockchain and digital assets.