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Blockchain technology is about to transform every trust-based interaction of our lives, from financial services to identity, from health care to our Internet of Things devices. In this podcast, host Laura Shin talks with industry pioneers across tech, financial services, health care, government and other sectors about how the blockchain and cryptocurrency will open up new opportunities for incumbents, startups and everyday people to interact more efficiently, directly and globally.

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  2. Brendan Eich on How Brave Is Working to Decentralize - Ep.155

Brendan Eich on How Brave Is Working to Decentralize - Ep.155

Jan 21, 2020

Brendan Eich, CEO and president of Brave, discusses his history in tech prior to crypto, including working at Netscape, how he created Javascript in 10 days and his short stint as CEO of Mozilla, what problems with ads that Brave is trying to solve, and why Brave needs the Basic Attention Token. He explains why Bitcoin wouldn't work for cryptocurrencies on the platform, why they use BAT over stablecoins, and how Brave strips ads from publishers' webpages, but doesn't from Facebook or Google, and how it causes collateral damage to publishers. He talks about how the browser is a middleman, how Brave works with Uphold and why it doesn't require KYC unless the users wants to cash out on his or her Brave rewards. He also explains why he isn't worried that BAT could meet the four prongs of the Howey test, what it will look like when Basic Attention Token is decentralized and why he doesn't know if publishers are earning back in BAT the ad revenue that Brave blocks.

Thank you to our sponsors! 

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Crypto.com: http://crypto.com/

Kraken: https://kraken.com/

Episode links: 

Brendan Eich: https://twitter.com/BrendanEich

Brave: https://brave.com/

Basic Attention Token: https://basicattentiontoken.org/

BAT white paper: https://basicattentiontoken.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/BasicAttentionTokenWhitePaper-4.pdf

Brave Rewards: https://support.brave.com/hc/en-us/articles/360027276731-Brave-Rewards-FAQ

Brave privacy policy: https://brave.com/privacy/

https://brave.com/privacy/#dev-detail 

BAT Growth: https://batgrowth.com

Publishers on BAT: https://batgrowth.com/publishers/website

Brendan Eich admits Brave is semi-decentralized: https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2018/11/23/brave-blockchain-cryptocurrency-browser/

How Brave hurts publishers: https://practicaltypography.com/the-cowardice-of-brave.html

Publishers send cease and desist to Brave: https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-browser-brave-responds-cease-desist

Whether BAT is necessary for Brave: https://micky.com.au/just-3-9-of-brave-browser-users-have-bat-in-their-wallets/

BAT ICO: https://www.coindesk.com/35-million-30-seconds-token-sale-internet-browser-brave-sells

Vitalik blog post on token sales: https://vitalik.ca/general/2017/06/09/sales.html

BAT roadmap: https://basicattentiontoken.org/bat-roadmap-1-0/