Basic Attention Token (BAT) is an open-source, decentralized ad exchange platform built on Ethereum platform. Basic Attention Token held an initial coin offering on May 31, 2017 for its eponymous ERC-20 utility token, raising approximately $35M USD at the time in less than 30 seconds. The Basic Attention Token aims to fix digital advertising, which is broken, fraudulent and opaque. Basic Attention Token work by having advertisers pay BAT to website publishers for the attention of users. The BAT token is designed to correctly value and price user attention within the platform. The Basic Attention Token comprises various components, including attention measurement systems, analytics dashboards and machine learning algorithms. Integration of BAT into a given host application involves implementing BAT Ads, a system that matches and displays ads to users based on locally stored data. Ad targeting is performed wholly on-device, removing the need for third-party tracking. BAT is focused on the Brave browser. Brave is an open-source, privacy-centered browser designed to block trackers and malware. It utilizes blockchain technology to anonymously and securely track user attention, which translates into rewards for publishers. A user's attention, meaning his or her focused mental engagement on digital content like advertisements, is logged through Brave. The makers of BAT indicate that the user's private data and tracking information is stored only on the user's device, ensuring that it is anonymous and private. Created back in 2016, the Basic Attention Token has one of the biggest names behind it, that of Brendan Eich, the creator of JavaScript and the legendary co-founder of Mozilla. Other noteworthy team members include Brian Bondy, lead developer and co-founder of Brave and Scott Locklin, senior engineer, and co-founder of Kerf Software.' Basic Attention Token is created by the team that built the Brave browser, an open-source, privacy-focused browser that blocks ads and trackers. The browser measures user attention and rewards publishers for users attention. Use the Brave browser to protect your privacy and support CoinGecko at the same time: https://brave.com/coi600
Bancor is a blockchain protocol that allows users to convert between different tokens directly as opposed to exchanging them on cryptocurrency markets. The project offers a network, which we’ll discuss soon, that works to bring liquidity to the majority of tokens that lack a consistent supply/demand in exchanges. That network is built on smart contracts and a new class of cryptocurrencies that the team calls “Smart Tokens.” Bancor is looking to provide support to the illiquidity that currently exists within the cryptocurrency market. Illiquidity isn’t so much an issue for top coins like Bitcoin or Ethereum because there are always buyers and sellers looking to exchange those coins. It is definitely an issue, however, for the thousands of other tokens that may serve legitimate decentralized purposes but haven’t attracted enough attention in the market to be liquid. Bancor’s protocol uses smart contracts to create Smart Tokens, which serve as an alternative mechanism for trading. A key characteristic of the protocol is that it doesn’t call for an exchange of tokens with a second party, as in the case of cryptocurrency exchanges. Rather, it employs Smart Tokens to convert between different ERC-20 tokens internally. These conversions take place through the blockchain’s protocol and completely outside of cryptocurrency exchanges. Smart Tokens process token conversions internally by holding reserves of other ERC20 tokens within their Smart Contract. They can then convert back and forth between those reserves as users request it. The Bancor team consists of a core Foundation Council and their Advisory Board. The Foundation Council includes four individuals based out of Zug, Switzerland. Bernard Lietaer is a Belgian civil engineer, economist, author, and professor. Lietaer specialized in monetary systems and promotes the notion of communities creating their own local currencies. Guy Benartzi serves as co-founder and is recognized for founding the gaming company, Mytopia. Benartzi also co-founded Particle Code, a development studio based in Tel Aviv, Israel. Guido Schmitz-Krummacher is an executive of the Bancor Protocol foundation that’s involved with a variety of commercial entrepreneurial ventures in Switzerland. His involvement in the crypto space includes that of Bancor as well as an executive position in crowdfunding network, Tezos (XTZ). One of the key elements of the Bancor Network is the automated pricing. This comes from the Smart Tokens’ built-in automated market makers. These automated market makers mean that the tokens’ smart contracts always buy or sell Smart Tokens from or to any user in exchange for any connector token (as well as any token found in the network). The price comes from the Bancor Formula. This formula that is responsible for balancing a Smart Token’s demand and supply while also maintaining the ratio between the token’s total value with the connector token balances. The creator of the Smart Token configures these ratios, known as the connector weight. The creator can adjust them with the goal of decreasing or increasing the liquidity level of the token. The connector weight indicates price sensitivity, or how much sells and buys affect the price movement. Any time the prices no longer syncs with prices listed on external exchanges, the arbitrageurs will quickly balance the gaps.'