Brave, the privacy-centric web browser built on Basic Attention Token (BAT), more than doubled the size of its user base over the course of 2020. The browser’s monthly active users increased from 11.6 million to 25.4 million, according to a recent press release.
Brave blocks ads and stops websites from tracking users’ movements around the internet while rewarding them with BAT tokens for the attention they do choose to give to advertisers. These tokens can be used to reward content creators and publishers via the browser’s in-built wallet or can be exchanged for other cryptocurrencies.
The browser’s daily active user count climbed a similar amount, rising from 3.8 million to 8.6 million — a 126% increase. Meanwhile, the number of verified content creators crossed the 1 million mark, representing those who have chosen to accept Basic Attention Token as advertising revenue for their work.
Co-founder and CEO of Brave Brendan Eich said the browser’s swelling user base was a sign that more people wanted to “opt out of the surveillance economy,” adding:
“25 million people have made the switch to Brave in order to protect their privacy and to regain control of their browsing experience. Users are realizing that a new way to browse the Web is just one click away with a seamless Brave download, and that they can opt out of the surveillance economy and instead get rewarded for browsing.”
Brave appears to have benefitted from a growing movement of internet users who are seeking to retain their privacy rather than have their every movement tracked, analyzed and sold for profit. Eich said the “global privacy movement” would grow in the coming year as Big Tech continues to tighten its grip on the internet.
“As the global privacy movement swells in 2021 and as less users trust Big Tech, we look forward to bringing more innovative privacy-protecting tools to our users, and to reforming invasive Web tracking practices,” said Eich.