Brave, the company behind the privacy-focused Brave browser, announced Thursday that it is introducing on-chain Solana payments through its long-running Brave Rewards program.
Brave said the on-chain Solana feature will allow Brave browser users to transfer BAT tokens from their local computer to a self-managed Solana wallet without the need for a centralized exchange.
“We chose Solana as the ideal network for launching on-chain Brave Rewards due to its high transaction speeds and low fees,” Brave said in a statement. “This helps reduce the costs associated with distributing BAT revenue to hundreds of thousands of users.”
Brave Rewards is officially @Solana! ⛓️🎉
Starting today, some users will be able to receive monthly benefits. $BAT You can receive rewards to your own Solana address. More details in the thread 👇 pic.twitter.com/1bjPGXn3yf
— Brave Software (@brave) February 22, 2024
Brave’s new Solana integration allows users to contribute directly to Brave creators, exchange tokens from their Brave wallet, buy SOL domains from Bonfida, earn fees from the Orca liquidity pool, and mint or buy NFTs with SPL. They said you can earn and spend BAT on the chain. -bat.
Despite Brave using Solana for its new Brave Rewards transfer feature, Rewards Program Director Christopher Nguyen said the company is not ruling out other blockchains like Ethereum.
“BAT launched on Ethereum, so it would be a natural fit,” Nguyen said. decryption. “But for launch, we chose Solana because of its incredible scalability.
“Ultimately, we want to expand user choice,” Nguyen said. “We are always keeping an eye on other chains and their developments and (we) are always open to partnerships with other leading names in the Web3 space.”
Solana is only the first chain integration, he noted, and simplicity is everything.
“This new way to deploy BAT removes many of the barriers people face when onboarding Web3,” Brave said. “The Solana Wallet is entirely owned and managed by the user, so there are no withdrawal fees or limits. Users can earn and receive BAT directly on the chain and spend it on the chain as they wish.”
Launched in 2016, the Brave browser allows users to block trackers, ads, and scripts. Brave Browser also gives users the option to select specific ads in exchange for a basic token, the Basic Attention Token (BAT).
Prior to today’s announcement, working with BAT required an Uphold account, a digital currency platform that offers “self-management support.”
With update 1.39 in May 2022, support for the Solana blockchain, including SOL and SPL tokens, was added to the Brave browser.
Users could exchange tokens in Brave Wallet, but a third party was needed to transfer assets to a self-custodial wallet. Brave Wallet users were able to buy, sell, and hold SOL and SPL tokens using the Ramp Network, Coinbase Pay, Sardine, and Transak.
Other cryptocurrencies supported by Brave Wallet include BTC, ETH, APE, MATIC, FIL, USDT, and USDC.
Brave said the initial rollout of Solana features will be available by invitation only to eligible users before self-managed features are available to the general public.
“Eligible users will be invited via a browser notification from Brave Rewards,” Brave said. “You will use a Solana wallet, such as Brave Wallet, to connect your Solana address to Brave Rewards.”
Brave and the Solana Foundation did not immediately respond. detoxification Request for comment.
Last November, Brave introduced generative AI to the Brave browser with the launch of LEO AI. The Brave browser leverages multiple AI models from Anthropic, Meta, and Mixtral to power Leo, available in free and premium tiers. Leo is available for free with limited access, while Premium offers more models with higher limits and gives subscribers early access to new features.
Like the Brave browser itself, LEO does not collect identifiers such as IP addresses and does not use user data to train AI models, Brave says.
“We tested several systems, and Anthropic’s speed and advanced conversational capabilities made it the best fit for this initial release,” Brave CTO and co-founder Brian Bondy told Decrypt at the time.
Like other generative AI models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini, LEO comes with a disclaimer that its accuracy is not guaranteed and it may provide inaccurate, misleading or incorrect information.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa. This article has been updated to include additional comments from Brave.
