What is Brave Software?

Over recent decades, as people have spent more time online, the basic internet services that we all take for granted, such as search engines and browsers, have become dominated by big tech firms like Google and Microsoft.

In exchange for making these services available without charging, there is a complex value chain based around online advertising, where we, as users, provide personal data without participating in any of the revenue that companies generate using that data.

Brave Software was established with a different, more privacy-centric model in mind. It operates based on the principle that advertising should only be allowed when the user opts in. Furthermore, by introducing incentives to internet browsing, it aims to create a fairer system of compensation where users are entitled to a share of the value they create.

Along with its range of browser and search products, Brave is also the issuer of Basic Attention Token (BAT). However, unlike many projects in the cryptocurrency sector, Brave offers services that stand alone without the need to use crypto, catering to a broad array of users who may not be familiar with digital assets.

History of Brave Software

Brave Software was founded in 2015 by two programmers, Brendan Eich and Brian Bondy. Brendan Eich was already well-established in the development of browser software, having previously worked at Netscape and developed the Javascript programming language. He then went on to co-found the Mozilla open-source project. Eich launched Brave Software following his resignation from Mozilla in 2015 with an initial investment of $2.5 million.

In 2016, Brave released the initial version of its ad-blocking browser, based on Chromium, the open-source browser software on which Google Chrome is based.

In 2017, the company held an initial coin offering (ICO) of Basic Attention Token (BAT), a token designed as the basis of Brave’s crypto-economic rewards model.

In 2019, the user-ready release of Brave was launched, with the rewards integration going live later in the same year.

In 2021, Brave expanded its product suite into search functionality, and in April 2024, Brave announced the launch of a privacy-focused AI answer engine that integrates with Brave’s search engine to deliver AI-generated responses to Brave search queries.

As of late 2024, Brave claims to service over 68 million users each month. The company is based in San Francisco.

Brave Software products

Brave’s suite of products is focused on privacy-first browsing and search functionality.

Brave Browser

The Brave Browser is Brave’s flagship product, available for free to everyone to download. The browser blocks all advertising and pop-ups by default, including video add, search ads, social media add, and even the cookie banner that now pops up on most websites.

The company claims that by blocking this unwanted screen traffic, it even reduces bandwidth consumption and battery usage, resulting in websites loading up to six times faster than other browsers.

Since Brave is developed on the Chromium core, it’s also relatively intuitive for those used to using the Google Chrome browser, and it’s possible to import data such as Chrome bookmarks and settings.

The core browser functionality is free to use; however, Brave Software also offers some subscription-based add-ons, such as a firewall and VPN service, and Brave Talk, which enables unlimited private video calling.

Brave Rewards with Basic Attention Token

Basic Attention Token is an Ethereum ERC-20 token that was launched in 2017 as the rewards currency for users of the Brave browser. BAT is earned by watching ads via the Brave Private Ad network, where advertisers pay to advertise directly to users who opt in.

BAT also serves various purposes within the Brave ecosystem, such as tipping or supporting content creators, purchasing gift cards, and making in-app purchases.

BAT is now also issued as an SPL token on Solana.

Users can earn BAT rewards on Brave by connecting to a payout account using a compatible wallet. Brave operates its own crypto wallet which is installed as default when users set up BAT rewards. Other wallets, such as MetaMask, may be connected by changing the default. Once connected, users can choose what type of ads they see, like images, videos, push notifications, and more.

Advertisers can also join the Brave ecosystem to directly advertise to users, while content creators can choose Brave integrations to benefit from direct rewards paid in BAT by followers and subscribers.

Brave Search

Brave Search is a search service similar to Google, which has been augmented by AI large-language capabilities since 2024. Whereas most search providers harvest data about the user’s searching habits to sell to advertisers, Brave Search sells itself on its private search capability, which doesn’t retain user search data. Furthermore, Brave Search uses its own independent search index to trawl the internet for results rather than relying on a third-party indexing service.

Brave Search also differentiates by the fact that it doesn’t operate any filters or downranking mechanisms on its search results, in contrast to many mainstream search providers which often face accusations of unfairly prioritizing or downranking certain results.

Brave Software essentials

• Brave Software is the company behind the Brave Browser, a privacy-focused browser with token-based reward integrations.
• Although the browser blocks ads by default, Brave Browser users can earn rewards in Basic Attention Tokens (BAT) for engaging with advertisements.
• Brave Software has also developed an AI-enabled search tool, as well as a crypto wallet and subscription-based services to augment the browsing experience.