Is Basic Attention Token Worth Investing?

Last Updated January 17th 2022

18 Min Read

Digital advertising is growing bigger every day. According to eMarketer, global digital ad spend is expected to increase by 16.2% this year and hit a staggering $571 billion. While this is good news for publishers and advertisers like Google AdSense, it is a bit of a bother for internet users.

Here is why.

While advertising is supposed to expose people to products and services they might be interested in, some of them can be dangerous to both the internet users and the devices they are using to browse.

For instance, some advertisers might steal user data and sell it to third parties. Adverts have also been known to reduce the browsing speeds and battery lives of several devices. Unfortunately, as the industry becomes bigger, so do these woes.

Lucky for you, you can avoid all that by using the Brave browser.

This is a new blockchain-based browser that ensures users can either block ads while browsing or be rewarded for viewing relevant ads. The Brave Browser is powered by Basic Attention Token (BAT), and that is what we will be covering in this guide.

In particular, we are going to learn what exactly BAT is, why it is important to digital advertising and whether or not it is a good investment.

Let’s dive right in.

Contents:

What is Basic Attention Token (BAT)?
How Basic Attention Token and the Brave Browser Work
Basic Attention Token Price History
Basic Attention Token Price Predictions for 2022
How to Invest in Basic Attention Token
Is Basic Attention Token a Good Investment?
Conclusion: So, Should I Buy Basic Attention Token?

What Is Basic Attention Token (BAT)?

To better understand what Basic Attention Token is, let’s quickly talk about the Brave browser.

Brave is an open-source web browser developed by a company known as Brave Software Inc. Brave is based on the Chromium web browser and mostly focused on privacy, especially when it comes to online advertising.

In particular, Brave blocks ads in its default settings enabling users to consume content in a distraction-free environment that is safe, private and fast. The browser also gives users the option to enable ads then be rewarded for viewing these ads. This way, advertisers, publishers and content creators can co-exist in a mutually beneficial environment.

Now, where does Basic Attention Token come in?

For starters, BAT is a cryptocurrency that runs on the Ethereum platform and is also developed alongside the Brave browser. Basically, BAT is the utility token that is used to run operations on the Brave browser.

The token was created by Mozilla and Firefox co-founder Brendan Eich. Using his previous experience from developing browsers, Eich utilizes the anonymity in blockchain to make internet browsing not only private but also safe and fair.

BAT is mostly used to reward users for viewing ads. The reward depends on the type of ads and how long a user views them. The user can then sell their BAT tokens, use them to buy premium content, or even tip publishers if they really like their content.

To better understand how all these work to ensure that users, publishers and advertisers exist in harmony, let’s cover in more detail how the Brave browser and BAT works.

How Basic Attention Token And The Brave Browser Work

As we already mentioned, the Brave browser blocks ads by default. It also blocks malware and trackers like invasive cookies, which usually collects user data while they are browsing. By blocking ads, cookies and malware, Brave allows users to browse anonymously, safely and without any distractions.

However, if you don’t mind the ads and choose to enable them, Brace will reward you with some BAT tokens for your support. When you enable ads, Brave will anonymously track how you interact with them in order to show you more relevant adverts in future. The data is stored in a blockchain-like ledger system that is unique to your browser, thus maintaining anonymity.

Brave also tracks user attention. That is basically the amount of time you spend engaging with ads. This kind of information can help determine which ads individual users are more interested in. Publishers of digital adverts are also rewarded with BAT when their content generates sustained user attention.

The attention value is calculated using incremental duration and the pixels in view for the advertising content. Brave is also working on an upgrade that will use machine learning to determine user interests so that they can show even more relevant ads.

Both the Brave browser and Basic Attention Token have tight security measures to protect all parties from fraud and malware.

Now, there are several ways of determining if a crypto asset is a good investment or not. Looking at technical analysis is one of the most effective methods. This includes looking at the price history, current trends and future price predictions.

Let’s start with the price history.

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

Basic Attention Token Price History

Although BAT started trading in Mid-2017, it remained relatively under the radar until around February 2018. At the time, most of the early cryptocurrencies were basking in one of the most dramatic market-wide bull runs.

For instance, Bitcoin shot from $9,000 to $20,000 within days marking its first biggest price jump. Several other coins followed suit, and the crypto market got a lot of media coverage that drew in more investors and enthusiasts.

Around May 2017, as Bitcoin was hitting headlines and blowing charts, Brave held an ICO and was able to raise $35 million in funds. Reportedly, the entire stash of 1 billion BAT tokens ran out within 30 minutes.

The funds raised in the ICO went into marketing to make more people aware of both BAT and the Brave browser. Soon, the user base widened, and BAT’s value began to rise quickly.

By January 2018, the price was closing in on the $1 mark compared to 2017, where it mostly traded below $0.3. BAT started picking up momentum around December 2017, and by the start of January 2018, it reached almost $0.5 and doubled to $0.9 around January 8th.

Unfortunately, the uptrend was short-lived, and BAT quickly dropped to a humbling low price of $0.2 in early April. There was another slow but steady rise that climaxed at $0.5 at the start of May then dropped again to $0.3 by the end of the same month.

A wild price swing followed with BAT’s price bouncing between $0.1 and $0.4 from mid-2018 to the end of the year. 2019 saw the same trend, and Basic Attention Token never went above $0.5

In fact, towards the end of 2019, BAT started on another hopeless plummet that saw the price bottom out at $0.2 per token. Although 2020 brought new hopes for investors of BAT and other cryptocurrencies across the industry, the COVID-19 pandemic slowed things down a bit.

For this reason, BAT’s growth in 2020 was a tad worse compared to that of 2019 because the highest price in 2020 was $0.3996 towards the end of August. By December 2020, the price was back to below $0.2.

In 2021, the COVID-19 heat had reduced, and the economy slowly flourished again. The crypto market also rejuvenated, and most digital assets were hitting new milestones. This time, there was another market-wide bull run bigger than the 2017/2018 one.

Basic Attention Token was more eager to be part of the bull run. Although it started the year at a low price of $0.2, it quickly grew, and by mid-February, it was above $0.6. This was BAT’s highest price since January 2018.

The rally picked up even more momentum, and by mid-March 2021, BAT had doubled to $1.2, and the price never went below $1. In April, the token continued with its uptrend and attained the current all-time high of $1.7.

At this point, the growth was too fast for BAT, and soon the price dropped to $1.

It recovered slowly, and by May, it had gone above $1.5. Unfortunately, by the end of May, the 2020/2021 bull run stifled and BAT along with other cryptocurrencies began to drop. The downtrend was so devastating for BAT that by the end of May, it was trading below $0.6.

June wasn't better. The price kept falling, however, after September it got back over $1 and by the end of November BAT had hit its new all-time high of $1.92.

At the time of writing this guide, BAT was trading at $1.02 with a market cap of $1.5 billion, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Basic Attention Token Price Predictions for 2022

Most of the price predictions we have looked at present a positive future outlook for Basic Attention Token. Of course, the predictions widely vary but generally, we get the idea that the token might be preparing for an ascending trajectory.

For most price analysts, BAT will most likely cross the $2 mark in 2022. Even the conservative Wallet Investor is hopeful that the token might see some good progress in 2022 and 2023.

According to Wallet Investor, by mid-February, BAT will be trading above $1.30. The asset will then reach the $1.6 level in April. The rest of the year is expected to be slow, with some drops in between, and BAT's price at the end of 2022 is expected to be $1.77.

Gov.capital seems to make a similar prediction, forecasting a price of $1.81 for BAT at the end of the year.

Digital Coin Price is a little less optimistic about BAT's price and expects the coin to trade around $1.4 in the first half of 2022. Basic Attention Token will trade at $1.51 at the end of the year.

Don't Miss: Basic Attention Token Price Predictions

How To Invest In Basic Attention Token

After going through the price history and predictions and you decide that you want to go ahead and invest in BAT, there are several ways you can do it. You can either stick to one method or do a combination of two to make your investment more stable.

Generally, there are three common ways you can invest in Basic Attention Token. They are:

Holding for the long term
Trading for the short term
Investing directly in the Brave browser

For the third option, you won’t need to buy any BAT tokens since you won’t be dealing directly with the token.

Let’s quickly go through each of these investment methods.

Method 1: Holding for the Long Term

Holding, also known unofficially as HODLing, is whereby you buy some BAT tokens then store them in a wallet for many years before selling. The idea is to wait until the price is much higher than the buying price, then you sell for a profit.

So, in order to hold, you will first need to buy a fair amount of BAT tokens; but don’t spend more than you can afford to lose. There are several exchanges from where you can buy Basic Attention Token.

eToro is one of our favourites, and here is how you can easily buy BAT from the platform.

Create a new account if you haven’t already
Verify your identity
Deposit funds into your account
Go to Top Markets, then choose Cryptocurrencies
Look for BAT from the list of cryptocurrencies, then click on it
Enter the amount you want to use to buy BAT. You can deposit a minimum of $25 currently.
Click on Open Trade to buy some BAT tokens.

After buying your tokens, you can transfer them to an off-exchange wallet. These can either be a cold/hardware wallet or a hot/software wallet. If you intend to also trade, you can leave a few tokens in the default eToro wallet.

If that is the case, let’s quickly show you how to trade.

Check Out: 14 Reasons Why You Should Invest in BAT

Method 2: Trading for the Short Term

We recommend trading for the more experienced traders since it is a bit more complicated than holding or hodling. This is the best method if you don’t have the patience to wait for years before you can see some profits.

You can easily trade eToro by following the steps you used to buy the tokens in the above section. Now instead of transferring the asset to an off-exchange wallet, you leave them in the platform, then you can place a long or short call and profit from either price direction.

eToro also exposes you to other trading features like leverage which allows you to amplify your profits. There are also other important features like Stop Loss and Take Profit, Trailing Stop Loss and One Click Trading.

Method 3: Invest in the Brave Browser

The third and less commonly utilized trading method is investing directly in the Brave browser. We only recommend this for veteran traders who are well-versed with mainstream institutional investments.

If you believe that Brave’s underlying technology has a great potential for mainstream adoption, you can invest in it and help it scale faster.

This way, you will also be helping BAT gain value and become more profitable. For this reason, we recommend doing this kind of investment alongside holding so you can benefit from the resulting BAT price increase.

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

Is Basic Attention Token A Good Investment?

Although most internet users may not know about Basic Attention Token yet, they would appreciate the solution it brings to the digital advertising mayhem. The Brave browser seeks to make internet browsing not only safer but also more secure and faster.

For this reason, Basic Attention Token will be a good investment if people begin to realize just how relevant the Brave browser is. Already most people are using ad blockers on their browsers in order to consume online content without distraction. This means that there is already a need for a service like the one Brave provides.

When the browser experiences more mainstream adoption, the value of BAT will consequently rise due to the increased use cases. As the value rises, early investors will enjoy huge profits, especially if they were hodling.

At the end of the day, whether or not BAT is a good investment will depend on your unique investment goals. Currently, Basic Attention Token is going through a drudgy growth which means if you are looking to hold for the long term, you might have to wait for some time before you can see any plausible profits.

On the other hand, you might be able to make quick short-term profits by trading. You can do this in one of two ways. The first option is to do spot trading. This is where you earn a small profit every time the price of the underlying asset goes up. This is like the short term version of hodling because you can only profit from an uptrend.

Even better, you can engage in CFD trading, which allows you to profit from either price direction; that, you earn whether the price rises or falls by placing a long or short call.

Depending on the investment method you choose, the level and duration of profitability will vary. All in all, do not forget that BAT is a speculative asset with high levels of volatility. While we think it is a good investment, we do not guarantee that you won’t lose your money.

You, therefore, need to do sufficient research and do not invest until you are sure it is the right fit for your portfolio.

The best way to go about it would be to do a bit of both trading and holding. This way, if one doesn’t work out, the other one might, and you won’t necessarily make a loss.

The best thing about Basic Attention Token BAT is that you can earn rewards by just using the Brave browser.

So, apart from the incremental value of your Basic Attention Token investment, you can also make some passive income by actively using the browser while browsing or watching videos on the internet.

Conclusion: So, Should I Buy Basic Attention Token?

Basic Attention Token is currently selling at a fairly low price. So, depending on whether you want to hodl or trade, now might be a good time to buy. We especially recommend buying for people who want to hold the token for the long term.

As soon as the token and the Brave browser begins to see some adoption, the price will rise quickly, and you might have to spend more per coin. So, although the growth is uncertain as of now, you can buy a few coins and see how the price moves. We, however, don’t recommend going all the way in.

As we said, BAT is volatile, and you can’t entirely trust the predictions we highlighted above. So, you still need to be cautious and not spend more than you can afford to lose. From the predictions above, the price of Basic Attention Token might be much higher in the next two or three years. So, you can buy now to avoid spending more in the future.