Frequently Asked Questions about Basic Attention Token
What is Basic Attention Token (BAT)?
BAT is the token used by the Brave browser's advertising and rewards system. Users who opt in to Brave Ads earn BAT for their attention, advertisers can pay for campaigns with it, and creators receive it as contributions from users. It is an ERC-20 token on Ethereum, launched in 2017.
How do Brave and BAT work together?
Brave blocks third-party ads and trackers by default. Users can opt in to Brave Rewards, which shows privacy-preserving ads matched on the device, so browsing data is not sent to Brave or advertisers. Brave says it shares 70% of that ad revenue with users, paid in BAT once a month to a connected payout account.
Turn on Brave Rewards and Brave Ads in the Brave browser and connect a payout account: a custodial account with one of Brave's partners, which vary by country, or a self-custody Solana address. Rewards are paid monthly. Websites and creators can also verify with Brave to receive BAT from users. Brave Rewards is not available in every country.
What is the total supply of BAT?
BAT has a fixed maximum supply of 1.5 billion tokens, and nearly all of it is in circulation. No new BAT can be mined or minted. The live circulating supply is shown in the market data on this page.
Is BAT mineable?
No. All 1.5 billion BAT were created when the token launched in 2017: 1 billion were sold in the public token sale, 300 million went to a User Growth Pool that funds rewards, and 200 million to Brave's development team.
Who created Basic Attention Token?
BAT was created by Brave Software, founded by Brendan Eich, who created JavaScript and co-founded Mozilla, and Brian Bondy. The Brave browser was first released in 2016, and BAT launched in a token sale on 31 May 2017 that sold out in under 30 seconds.
Is BAT on Ethereum or Solana?
Both, in different forms. BAT was issued as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum, which is still its main network. Bridged BAT also exists on Solana, where Brave pays self-custody Rewards as Wormhole-bridged BAT, and on some other networks. Always check which network your BAT is on before sending it.
What is BAT Roadmap 4.0?
Brave's plan for BAT published on 9 July 2026. It includes a redesigned Brave Wallet, a Brave Rewards Card that pays BAT on purchases, BravePay for stablecoin payments, support for automated payments by AI agents, and BAT buybacks funded from part of Brave's revenue. As of October 2026 these are in development, with community testing planned for autumn 2026.
Can I use BAT outside the Brave browser?
Yes. BAT is a standard ERC-20 token, so it can be held in any wallet that supports Ethereum tokens, sent to anyone, traded, or used in some DeFi protocols. Its main purpose is still inside Brave, so demand for it depends largely on Brave's growth.
How can I buy and store BAT?
You can buy BAT on Bitcoin.com with a card, bank transfer or payment app through our payment partners; it is delivered as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum to a wallet you control. To store it, use a self-custody wallet that supports Ethereum tokens and keep your recovery phrase safe.
What is Basic Attention Token (BAT)?
Basic Attention Token (BAT) is the token behind the Brave browser's privacy-first advertising system. People who opt in to Brave Ads see ads that are matched on their own device, without tracking, and earn BAT for their attention. Brave says 70% of the revenue from those ads is shared with users, who can keep it or pass it on to the websites and creators they support.
BAT is a token rather than a coin: an ERC-20 token on Ethereum, launched in 2017 by Brave's co-founder Brendan Eich, who created JavaScript and co-founded Mozilla. Its supply is fixed at 1.5 billion tokens, all of which were created at launch, and it can also be used outside Brave: held in any compatible wallet, traded, or used in decentralized finance (DeFi).
Basic Attention Token at a glance
Item
Detail
Type
Utility token for the Brave advertising and rewards system
Ticker
BAT
Network
Ethereum (ERC-20); bridged versions on Solana and other chains
Launched
31 May 2017, in a token sale that sold out in under 30 seconds
Created by
Brendan Eich and Brian Bondy, the founders of Brave
Supply
1.5 billion BAT, fixed; not mineable
Main uses
Brave Rewards, creator contributions, paying for Brave Ads campaigns
Brave users
122.5 million monthly active users (July 2026)
Latest roadmap
BAT Roadmap 4.0, published 9 July 2026
How BAT works in the Brave browser
Brave blocks third-party ads and trackers by default. BAT comes in through an opt-in program called Brave Rewards, which ties together three groups.
Users: turn on Brave Ads to see privacy-preserving ads, such as notifications or images on the new-tab page. Ads are chosen by a matching system that runs on the device, so browsing data is not sent to Brave or to advertisers. Users earn a share of the ad revenue in BAT, paid once a month.
Advertisers: run campaigns through Brave's self-serve ads platform and pay in BAT, other crypto or by card. Brave offers discounts on campaigns paid in BAT, which creates demand for the token.
Creators and publishers: websites, video channels and social accounts can verify with Brave and receive BAT that users send them, either as one-off contributions or by sharing their own rewards. Brave reports more than 2 million verified creators.
To be paid, a user connects a payout account. That can be a custodial account with one of Brave's partners, which differ by country, or, since August 2025, a self-custody address on Solana, where payouts arrive as Wormhole-bridged BAT. Brave Rewards is not available in every country, and on iOS the self-custody option is not offered.
Why BAT exists: the problem with online advertising
Most online advertising runs on tracking. Ad networks follow people across websites to build profiles, and several middlemen take a cut between the advertiser and the publisher. The original BAT whitepaper argued that this harms all three sides:
Users give up privacy, data and page speed to heavy ad scripts, and get nothing in return.
Publishers lose revenue to intermediaries and to ad fraud.
Advertisers pay for impressions that are often bots or hard to verify.
BAT's answer is to measure attention inside the browser, keep the data on the device, and pay the people whose attention is being bought. Whether that model can grow beyond Brave's own user base is the main open question for the token.
What is BAT used for?
Rewards: users earn BAT for viewing Brave Ads, paid monthly to their connected payout account.
Creator contributions: users can send BAT to verified websites and creators to support their work.
Advertising: advertisers can buy Brave Ads campaigns with BAT, often at a discount.
DeFi and holding: as an ERC-20 token, BAT can be held in any wallet that supports Ethereum tokens, added to liquidity pools or used as collateral in some lending protocols.
Trading: BAT is listed on many crypto exchanges and can be bought with local currency through brokers and payment providers.
BAT supply and tokenomics
BAT has a fixed maximum supply of 1.5 billion tokens. There is no mining or staking issuance: every BAT was created when the token launched, and nearly all of it is now in circulation. The live circulating supply is shown in the market data on this page.
The supply was split three ways at the token sale on 31 May 2017:
Allocation
Amount
Purpose
Public sale
1 billion BAT
Sold for 156,250 ETH, then worth about $35 million
User Growth Pool
300 million BAT
Rewards and grants to bring users onto the platform
Development team
The User Growth Pool still funds rewards today. Under BAT Roadmap 4.0, Brave plans to use a share of its net revenue from the new roadmap products to buy BAT back into a User Growth Pool reserve, which pays for user rewards and creator contributions.
BAT on Ethereum, Solana and other networks
BAT was issued on Ethereum and that remains its native home. Bridged versions also exist on other chains, most importantly on Solana, where Brave pays self-custody rewards as Wormhole-bridged BAT because transactions cost a fraction of a cent. A bridged token is a separate token on another network that represents the original, so it is not interchangeable with ERC-20 BAT without going back through a bridge.
Before you send or receive BAT, check which network it is on. Sending Solana BAT to an Ethereum address, or the reverse, can mean losing the tokens. Read more about what a crypto bridge is.
BAT Roadmap 4.0: what Brave announced in 2026
Brave published BAT Roadmap 4.0 on 9 July 2026. It moves BAT from advertising towards payments. The main parts, all still in development as of October 2026, are:
Unified Brave Wallet: a redesign of Brave's built-in self-custody wallet so that crypto, saved payment cards and Brave Rewards sit in one place.
Brave Rewards Card: a payment card that pays rewards in BAT on everyday purchases. Brave has not yet named the card partner or the countries.
BravePay: a payment layer for stablecoins, built around self-custody and privacy.
Agent payments and creator payouts: browser support for the x402 and Machine Payments Protocol (MPP) standards for automated payments, and a Creator Contribution Protocol meant to pay creators when AI tools use their content.
Brave said it would invite users to test prototypes in autumn 2026.
Who created BAT?
BAT was created by Brave Software, founded by Brendan Eich and Brian Bondy. Eich created the JavaScript programming language in 1995 and co-founded Mozilla, the organization behind Firefox. The Brave browser was first released in 2016, and BAT followed in 2017. Brave has grown steadily since: it reported 122.5 million monthly and 51 million daily active users for July 2026.
BAT vs traditional digital advertising
Column 1
Brave and BAT
Traditional online ads
Privacy
Ads matched on the device; no cross-site tracking
Users tracked and profiled across sites
Who earns
Users share ad revenue; creators receive contributions
Ad networks and middlemen take a large cut
Risks to know
BAT's price is volatile and can move sharply in either direction. Its main use depends on one company: if Brave's growth stalls or Brave changes how Rewards work, demand for BAT changes with it, and Brave has changed the program before, for example by requiring a payout account to earn from 2023. Rewards are not available in every country, and the Roadmap 4.0 products are not live yet. Bridged versions of BAT add the risks of the bridge that secures them, and scams that impersonate wallets and support staff are common, so never share your recovery phrase. This page explains how Basic Attention Token works and is not financial advice.
Buy, sell and hold BAT with Bitcoin.com
You can buy BAT with a card, bank transfer or payment app through our payment partners; it is delivered as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum to a wallet you control. To cash out, see selling BAT, and check what your BAT is worth with the BAT to USD converter. To hold BAT yourself, use a self-custodial wallet that supports Ethereum tokens: the Bitcoin.com Wallet supports the Ethereum network and ERC-20 tokens, as well as Solana. You keep your own keys, so always store your recovery phrase safely.
