There has been a lot of talk lately about Brave and the BAT rewards program.  Rightfully so, there are a lot of users who used to be well rewarded for their attention, and the rewards level for that has gone down.  There is NOTHING WRONG with those complaints, in fact, voicing them in a public forum is one of the foundational pieces of the internet, both for creators and for users.  Users get to make their voice heard, creators get free feedback and know where they can improve.  I hope Brave is listening.

I don't want to talk about that, though.  This is a reminder that Brave, as a browser, is so much bigger than a BAT faucet.

Brave Browser is my go-to for so many reasons other than popup ad revenue.

• Private Browser with TOR
• Shields UP
• Crypto Wallets
• Ad Block
• Progress

As Rhett & Link say: "Let's talk about that."

Private Browser with TOR

Let's be real, if you need to access the Dark Web there are more secure ways to do things.  However, if you're just hopping on to cruise Torum or Dreaddit, it is SO EASY to just Alt+Shift+N and drive straight to Dark.fail.  I've even found myself hitting that keyboard shortcut when I want to run a Google search (My default search engine is DDG) and I don't want the big G to know it's me.  Though their AI model of me in a lab somewhere has probably already told them I'm searching for whatever it is.

Shields UP

A service from the EFF called Panopticlick allows you to test your browser's tracking shields.  It still has a "Share on Google+" link, so IDK how up-to-date it is, buuuut... moving on.

I did Panopticlick tests on six browsers, here are the results.  IDK what Firefox is doing, and the test wouldn't even run properly on Waterfox.  Chrome Canary surprised me.  Brave didn't.

As you can see, shields on Brave are up all the way, sometimes too far up.  I rest my case.

Crypto Wallets

Built-in wallets don't have a lot of usage cases right now, but with the rise of services like Origin Protocol's Dshop the easy-access wallets will be more useful.

A plethora of wallets is like a plethora of bank accounts, but without the malicious fees and charges.  You have to make sure you know and remember where your money is stored.  A wallet in browser will be similar to a debit card in use, but make sure to stay organized when it comes to your other accounts.  I use a group in KeePass only for crypto-related entries.

Ad Block

To be honest, I've used Brave so much that when I see ads in browser they just look wrong (Publish0x, looking at you).  There's a problem on the internet, and adblocking is a solution.  It's not perfect of course, and on sites like Facebook it doesn't keep up because Facebook's anti-adblock team is brutal, but on sites like my Outlook account it works AMAZINGLY.

Progress

This is a big one.  Browsers like Chrome and Firefox are so big that they're required to be dependable rather than progressive.  By being a (right now) smaller, faster-moving team, Brave can experiment with New Tab cards, video chatting (is that still a thing? I don't see it) and other things as they come up.

For the time being, it may be best to be bearish on BAT.  If you're just using Brave as a faucet, I've got a whole list of referral links I'll send you to prove that it's still a good one in comparison.  If a privacy-centered browser still isn't worth using without getting paid handsomely for it, that goes on your list of 99 problems, not mine.

The Brave team is working hard to solve all the problems we're talking about.  Keep complaining, keep making your voice heard, but don't give up on the project yet.  For Brave, BAT, and Crypto in general, this is only the beginning.  THE FUTURE IS DIGITAL.