Brave, a web browser that blocks third-party trackers and ads, has introduced a beta version of its bitcoin-based payment system that automatically pays the websites that users want to support. Brave Payments allows users to reward sites for content they like without being tracked. The beta was announced in a blog by Brendan Eich , Brave’s owner, who helped build the Mozilla web browser and created JavaScript. Eich noted web users are frustrated with the pervasive advertising technology ecosystem that slows data connections and clogs web pages with tracking pixels, scripts and ads. Users are looking to support those websites they choose to support. Payments System: The Next Step Brave’s browser blocks impression tracking pixels, ad-click confirmation signals, and initial signaling/analytics scripts that start the programmatic advertising. Brave Payments calculates how often a user visits websites, then allocates bitcoin to those sites the user wants to support from the user’s pre-funded bitcoin wallet. Users can send payments to sites of their choosing at whatever level of support they choose. How It Works The Brave Payments user interface allows the user to select the sites they wish to support by disabling or enabling funding for all sites they visit. Contributions from users are sent to a bitcoin escrow wallet managed by Brave. When bitcoin contributions to a website equal $100 USD, the system emails the site’s webmaster and the registered domain owner, launching the publisher’s verification process. The email explains how the publisher verifies their bitcoin wallet. For publishers that don’t have a bitcoin wallet, the email explains how to create one. The browser provides users with a free BitGo bitcoin wallet. Users can also fund a wallet through Coinbase. Publishers collect their funds after verifying themselves. The escrow fund expires after 30 days following three attempts to launch the […]
