A Brave New Browser: Is BAT Coinbase's Next Add?

Earlier this week, Brendan Eich, co-founder and CEO of Brave Software, unveiled the latest stats on his fledgling browser, Brave.

The 4 million users Brave has managed to garner is impressive, given its relatively recent launch in January 2016.

Through Brave, Eich plans to not only win a larger market share of browser usage but also kickstart mainstream cryptocurrency adoption.

If Brave continues to grow at its predicted rate, and Coinbase ends up listing Brave's Basic Attention Token on its platform, both may soon come true.

What sets Brave apart from its competitors is its unique blend of privacy, ad-blocking and reward system through its cryptocurrency BAT. Brave protects user privacy by automatically blocking all ads, trackers and "Fingerprinting" that companies normally use.

The Brave browser is up to eight times faster than its competitors Safari and Chrome and estimates that users save up to $276 on mobile data charges by blocking ads and trackers a browser would normally download. While this is good for users, ad blocking traditionally has a negative effect on online companies' revenue streams, which Brave circumvents with BAT.Your Attention, Your Money.

Brave is also able to solve the dilemma of balancing internet users' privacy with publishers' ad-dependent revenue with BAT. Users can earn BAT simply by using the Brave browser.

On July 13, Coinbase revealed that BAT was one of the cryptocurrencies it was considering adding to its platform, and many speculators now believe it will be the next coin added.

Pouliot argued that, while Brave was a good product, BAT was a useless token and should refund token holders.

Eich countered with the fact that the Brave browser had previously used Bitcoin, with many problems, and the argument soon escalated to accusations of pump-and-dumps, immoral money printing and name calling.