Internet company Brave raises $35m in less than 30 seconds
By James Hester
12:33, 1 June 2017
Internet browser company Brave raised $35m from its initial coin offering (ICO) in less than 30 seconds.
It is understood to be the largest amount ever raised through an ICO.
Founded by former Mozilla chief executive Brendan Eich, Brave is a free web browser that claims to block website trackers and invasive internet advertising.
New currency
ICOs work by selling investors cryptocurrency. Rather than using an existing cryptocurrency such as bitcoin, Brave chose to create its own currency, dubbed the Basic Attention Token (BAT).
Brave said it would use the proceeds of the ICO to further develop its platform.
New model
The company claims its browser can provide faster upload and download times as well as better privacy control. Brave also allows publishers to become “partners”.
While claiming to reduce unwanted advertising for consumers, it is also offering publishers a revenue stream based on website clicks. In addition, Brave will use the newly created BAT currency for its publisher model.
ICO trend
The success of Brave´s ICO is likely to spur more firms to take a similar route, with the amount raised and its mind-blowing speed set to raise eyebrows across the internet industry.
With the concept gaining increasing traction, institutional investors have already begun to use ICOs through dedicated funds such as Polychain Capital.
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