BAT ICO Raises $36 Million In Seconds

The Ethereum-based token sale finished as soon as it started and switched from being the most anticipated to the most controversial one.

Only 190 people were able to participate, and the majority of tokens went to big investors. The most substantial sum exceeded 20,000 ETH and is currently valued at around $4.7 million.

The ICO had the smallest amount of token holders so far and reached the hard cap of $36 million in 24 seconds. This fact raised concerns about how small investors can have the opportunity to buy a portion and if decentralization and democratization are the ultimate goals.

According to an announcement made a few days earlier, BAT raised the capital and increased the number of tokens to give an equal chance for everyone. Still, 50% of the tokens were sold out to 4 addresses.

BAT’s initial coin offering is not the only one in which smaller participants don’t get a chance to take part. There seems to be a lust for investment opportunities in Ethereum’s community and token sales frequently go out much faster than usual.

Besides that, a successful ICO does not dictate the further development of the project, and anyone eager to invest can wait for the next opportunity and contribute.

Brave Browser is aiming to disrupt the advertising industry by allowing users to opt-in for targeted and non-intrusive ads in return for some BAT.  The token connects publishers, advertisers, and users in a decentralized and anonymous way.

The project is led by the co-founder of Mozilla and Firefox Brendan Eich, who is also the creator of the JavaScript programming language. The team hopes to build an alternative business model, where consumers are rewarded for their attention instead of their clicks, thus potentially preventing fraud which costs the industry around $7 billion per year, according to BAT.