Token economics of BAT

The Basic Attention Token (BAT) project solves major pain points of the digital advertising industry - fraud, inefficiency & lack of privacy.

Feb 24, 2023

Token economics (tokenomics) studies the design and implementation of blockchain-based tokens. Understanding token economics is crucial for anyone considering investing in or using a particular token.

This post covers the token economics of the native token of the Basic Attention Token (BAT) project which solves major pain points of the digital advertising industry - fraud, inefficiency & lack of privacy.

1. Project Overview

The Basic Attention Token (BAT) project solves major pain points of the digital advertising industry - fraud, inefficiency & lack of privacy. The BAT ecosystem also reduces the role of ad networks & data brokers.

The BAT ecosystem is powered by the Brave web browser, which blocks ads & trackers, protects user privacy, and rewards users for their attention. BAT enables users to control their own data and choose which advertisers they want to engage with.

BAT, an ERC-20 token on Ethereum, is the native token of the BAT ecosystem.

When a user views an ad, a portion of the BAT spent on that ad is distributed to:

the user who viewed it,
the publisher who displayed it, and
Brave Software, the company behind the Brave browser.

2. Token Issuance & Emission

Token issuance is the creation and distribution of tokens as part of a specific event or offering e.g. airdrop, ICO, reverse ICO, IEO, IDO, DAICO, ETO, STO, and SAFT. Token emission is the ongoing process of creating and releasing new tokens into circulation e.g. through mining or staking.

BAT was launched in 2017 and had one of the fastest-selling ICOs in crypto history - it raised $35 million in under 1 minute.

3. Token Utility

Tokens derive value from the utility of the network that they are used in. In other words, the value of a token is determined by how useful it is within the specific ecosystem in which it is used. This can be based on a variety of factors, such as:

the size and activity of the network,
the demand for the goods & services that can be purchased with the token, and
the perceived value of the network to its users.

As the utility of the network increases, the value of its associated tokens is likely to increase as well.

Use cases

Users can earn BAT by opting in to view advertisements in the Brave web browser. If you view an ad, you get a portion of the revenue generated by that ad.
Publishers can earn BAT by receiving tips & contributions from their readers.
Publishers can also earn BAT by participating in the Brave Ads program. This allows publishers to earn a share of the advertising revenue generated by the ads displayed on their sites.
Advertisers can use BAT to purchase advertising space on the Brave browser.
BAT can be used to earn interest & make payments with Gemini Earn & Gemini Pay.

4. Token Metrics

Price metrics

Price: $ 0.33
ATH: $1.92 (Nov 28, 2021)
ATL: $0.06621 (Jul 16, 2017)
Cycle Low: $0.15 (Jan 7, 2023)
% Down From ATH: -82.44%

MCap & Volume metrics

Market Cap: $ 488 million
24h Volume: $ 124 million
Market Dominance: 0.04%

Supply metrics

Circulating Supply: 1.49 billion BAT
Total Supply: 1.5 billion BAT
Maximum Supply: 1.5 billion BAT

Terms used

All-time-high (ATH) is the highest price a crypto asset has ever reached.
All-time-low (ATL) is the lowest price a crypto asset has ever reached.
Cycle Low is the lowest trading price of the crypto since its ATH.
Percentage down from ATH measures how far down the crypto is currently trading from its ATH.
Market cap = Current Price x Circulating Supply
24h Volume is the fiat value of this crypto traded over the last 24 hours.
Market Dominance measures a crypto's total market capitalization relative to the total market cap of all cryptos.
Volume / Mcap ratio = 24h Volume / Marketcap
Circulating Supply is the number of coins / tokens in public hands.
Total Supply is the number of coins/tokens created minus the number burned.
Maximum Supply is the maximum amount of this crypto that can ever exist.

Note: Figures are as on 23 Feb 2023 and have been rounded off for convenience.
Sources: Messari, Coinmarketcap