Announced on Twitter on Aug. 21, a new version of Brave Browser enables users to tip on ad-free video platform Vimeo and social news site Reddit, using Brave’s native Basic Attention Token (BAT).
Blockchain-based internet browser Brave has continued expanding its crypto tipping option by integrating it into Reddit and Vimeo.
BAT is up about 4.6% over the past 7 days at press time, trading at $0.192, according to CoinMarketCap.
Reddit and Vimeo follow Twitter
The tipping feature on Reddit and Vimeo comes weeks after it was first introduced on social media network Twitter following a successful service trial on its testing browser Brave Nightly.
Brave initially introduced Reddit and Vimeo tipping as part of the browser’s developer preview earlier this summer, according to a post on Reddit published a month ago.
Previous tipping efforts on Reddit and Vimeo
Brave’s initiative to introduce a tipping option on Reddit and Vimeo is not the first attempt to allow users of the platforms to tip for content. In 2012, Vimeo rolled out its Tip Jar feature, allowing content creators to get donations from $1 to $500 by credit card or PayPal. However, the service was shut down in July 2015 as Vimeo focused on another tool for content monetization called Vimeo On Demand.
In 2013, Reddit initiated a content tipping option in Bitcoin through the bitcointip bot. The service was terminated before another Bitcoin tipping option called Changetip went live in 2014. However, Changetip was also shut down in 2017 after recording 100,000 sign ups and over 350,000 tips.
Brave Browser Sees 1,200% Increase of Registered Publishers Over Year
The number of publishers using the blockchain-based decentralized browser Brave has increased by 1,200% over the past year, industry-focused news outlet Decrypt reported on Aug. 11.
According to data from BATGrowth – a website that monitors Brave browser adoption – the number of Brave Rewards publishers were 18,931 in July, 2018, while its current number is more than 230,000 at press time.
29,278 website publishers including the Washington Post and Smithsonian Magazine, 17,417 Twitter publishers, 2,917 Reddit publishers, 166,698 YouTube publishers and over 12,000 Twitch publishers use the Brave Reward program.
Earlier in August, Brave announced a feature for tipping content creators on Twitter with its native Basic Attention Tokens (BAT). The announcement also listed a number of features associated with the tipping service, including setting up regularly recurring tips as well as a mechanism for tweeting at a tipped creator to tell them how to claim their donation.
Last month, news broke that users of the last nightly (in-development) version of Brave are now able to withdraw their BAT tokens after verifying their identity with crypto banking startup UpHold. After the verification, users will reportedly be able to buy additional BAT tokens, in case they wish to contribute to website maintenance and content creation.
At press time, BAT is trading at around $0.201, down 2.76% over the past 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. The coin began its life at around $0.166 last June, having seen its highest price point of around $0.86 in January.
Brave Browser Reports That EU Governments Are Failing at Privacy Protection
On April 27, Brave browser filed a complaint urging the European Commission to take action against EU governments that fail to adequately protect their citizens.
A recent report compiled by the Brave team concludes that most EU member states do not adequately staff their General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, enforcers:
“Only five of Europe’s 28 national GDPR enforcers have more than 10 tech specialists. Europe’s GDPR enforcers do not have the capacity to investigate Big Tech.”
Regulators can’t afford to fight for privacy
Furthermore, the report stipulates that the enforcement agencies are underfinanced, which leads to reluctance on their part to engage in expensive litigation against tech giants:
“Even when wrongdoing is clear, DPAs data protection authorities hesitate to use their powers against major tech firms because they can not afford the cost of legally defending their decisions against ‘Big Tech’ legal firepower.”
The complaint filed by Dr. Johnny Ryan, Brave’s chief policy and industry relations officer, urges the European Commission to take action and if necessary to refer the case to the European Court of Justice:
“Brave is requesting that the European Commission launch an infringement procedure against the European Member State Governments, and refer them to the European Court of Justice if necessary.”
The complaint lists every EU member state with the exception of Germany, which, according to the report, is the only nation that adequately staffs and budgets its data protection authority.
Dr. Ryan told Cointelegraph that despite the economic crisis, he expects the European governments to increase financing of its data protection authorities:
“I expect a budgetary increase. Not least because the credibility of the GDPR is critically important to the EU.”
Battle against Google
Previously, Brave filed a complaint against Google with its main European regulator, accusing it of violating Article 5(1)b of the GDPR. It should be noted that Brave is built on Chromium framework, an open-source project from Google. Dr. Ryan does not believe that Brave’s activism could lead to the tech giant’s adverse reaction against it.
Perhaps, with massive stimulus packages being thrown around, some of this money could be routed to the data protection authorities.
