Basic Attention Token (BAT) was one of the most recognizable cryptocurrency projects to emerge from the 2017 market cycle. Unlike many tokens launched during that period, BAT came with an understandable purpose: reward people for their attention, allow advertisers to reach audiences without invasive tracking and give users a way to support online creators.
BAT launched as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum in 2017 and became closely integrated with the Brave browser. Users who opted into privacy-preserving Brave Ads could earn BAT while browsing, then hold the tokens or contribute them to participating websites, video creators and other publishers. It was an unusual attempt to place Internet users inside the advertising economy instead of treating them simply as the product being sold.
For early participants, the system felt refreshingly accessible. Someone could install Brave, activate Rewards and accumulate small amounts of BAT without first becoming an experienced cryptocurrency user. However, that experience changed considerably as Brave Rewards matured.
In early 2023, Brave began requiring users who wanted to earn and accumulate BAT from advertisements to connect a custodial account. Supported providers included Uphold, Gemini and bitFlyer (in Japan), depending on the user’s location. Connecting such an account generally required identity verification. Brave also began retiring “virtual BAT,” or vBAT, which had allowed unverified users to maintain an off-chain Rewards balance inside the browser.
Brave explained that the changes would reduce abuse, improve accounting and satisfy requirements affecting reward payouts. Users without a connected account could still participate in a “creator support only” experience, but they could no longer accumulate BAT for themselves. For longtime users attracted to Brave by its privacy-focused and low-friction design, the change introduced a noticeable contradiction: earning a privacy-oriented token now frequently required disclosing one’s identity to a third-party financial company.
Brave has since taken steps toward reducing that dependence. In February 2024, it announced an initial invitation-based rollout allowing selected users to connect a self-custody Solana address and receive BAT directly on-chain. BAT’s original token remains on Ethereum, while the BAT distributed through this option on Solana is a bridged representation of the asset. Therefore, BAT did not abandon Ethereum or permanently migrate to Solana; it became available across more than one network.
Meanwhile, the wider ecosystem has continued developing. Brave says its Creators program includes more than two million verified websites and content creators, while its browser reaches more than 120 million users worldwide. Its Rewards Partner Program, introduced in 2025, has sought to give BAT additional uses through offers, games, shopping benefits and integrations with participating Web3 projects.
The most ambitious plans appeared in Brave’s BAT Roadmap 4.0, published in July 2026. Proposed initiatives include a redesigned unified Brave Wallet, a stablecoin-based payment layer called BravePay, a virtual and physical Brave Rewards Card and a protocol intended to compensate creators when AI systems use their work. Brave also says revenue from certain wallet, card and payment services could help fund BAT purchases for rewards and ecosystem growth.
At the same time, Brave plans to gradually retire its familiar notification-style advertising unit by the end of 2026. Rewards would increasingly extend beyond viewing advertisements into shopping offers, wallet activity, loyalty programs and everyday payments. This represents a substantial change from BAT’s original identity as primarily a browser advertising token.
BAT therefore remains active, but the experience is no longer as simple as it was during the project’s early years. Custodial verification and geographic limitations understandably pushed away some early supporters. Self-custody payouts and new utility plans may address part of that frustration, although several Roadmap 4.0 features remain proposals rather than established products.
The central idea behind BAT—recognizing that people’s attention has economic value—still has merit. Its next chapter will depend on whether Brave can make that economy useful and accessible again while preserving the privacy-centered principles that attracted its earliest users.
Sources: Brave Rewards, Brave’s 2023 Rewards changes, BAT Roadmap 4.0 and Brave Rewards Partner Program update (June, 2026).
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