Brave browser to pay users Bitcoin to view partner ads

Ad-blocking mobile browser, Brave, has partnered with a number of advertisers. Brave plans to pay users a cut of the ad revenue for receiving ads while using the internet on their phone. Users will be paid in Bitcoin via the company's new system Brave Ledger. The browser blocks the original ads that would appear and replaces them with ads the from its advertising partners. The company's developers have promised that the ads will load after the web content not before, making it more attractive to those who originally opted to block all ads from their browser.

The browser Brave has come up with a new way of dealing with ads that is as intriguing as it is controversial. By default, Brave is an ad-blocking mobile browser that leans heavily on privacy. Designed by the former CEO of Mozilla Brendan Eich, the browser is unique in that it asks users to pay for these ad-blocking services. If that sounds like an unpopular move, then wait for the zinger: you can either pay to have no ads, or get paid to receive different ads.

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That’s right. Brave has partnered with a variety of advertisers who want you to see their ad content instead of the content that is currently on the web. If you opt in, Brave wants to give you a cut of the ad revenue through the use of their new system Brave Ledger. You’ll get paid in Bitcoin just for surfing the web on your phone.

Very crafty, but will it take off? No one is really sure right now. To actually get the money in your pocket, you will of course have to have a Bitcoin wallet. You’ll also have to verify your identity with a phone number and email address, otherwise your “hard earned” cash will be donated to the publisher of your choice.

To sweeten the deal, the developers are promising that the ads that they display in place of the original ads will load in after the web content rather than before, which is how much third party advertising currently works. But is this something you would opt into? And how much money are we talking here? Guess we’ll have to wait and see, but in the meantime, let us know your thoughts on this arrangement in the comments below!

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