Brave adds privacy features and Solana support

The Brave browser released its new version on Tuesday, as revealed by the browser profile on Twitter. The new version, titled 1.39, is available for the desktop version and brings new privacy features and Solana blockchain support.

As a result, browser users will be able to store and transact SOL and Solana’s native SPL tokens. SLP is a standard similar to ETH’s ERC-20, which allows the creation of new networks within Solana.

Brave’s token, the Basic Attention Token (BAT), has also been reworked. Created on ETH, BAT can also be used on Solana. With this, users will be able to send and receive the tokens taking advantage of Solana’s higher speeds and lower fees.

Brave browser – integration and expansion

In the new browser version, Brave Wallet can be used to buy, sell and hold SOL and SPL tokens. For this, users will rely on Ramp, a non-custodial payment platform. That is, those who use Brave will be able to buy the tokens directly from Brave Wallet.

That way, those who use Brave do not need to go through exchanges like Coinbase or Binance. Simply purchase the token directly through Ramp and then transfer the tokens to a wallet.

“With the Ramp integration, Brave users will be able to spend more time doing what they love and less time on what was a painful process of converting their fiat currencies to cryptocurrencies,” said Greg McEwan, Ramp’s head of marketing.

More rewards

Brave is also expanding the utility of BAT, whose rewards model is unique. Brave acts as an ad blocker while protecting user data. In return, it pays users who choose to click on ads created by browser partners with BAT.

These BATs are accumulated in the browser’s wallet, which distributes them monthly, and can be exchanged for other cryptocurrencies. The token, which is compatible with ETH, will gain a possibility of use as an SPL token on Solana.

For this, the user needs to wrap the BATs through Solana’s Wormhole. Once this is done, the token is transformed into the SLP format and is sent over this network.

In the future, BAT holders will also be able to use the token to buy and sell NFTs on the Magic Marketplace. That is, it will be possible to use them to buy native Solana tokens.

According to Brave data, BAT has over 55 million monthly active users. These users already had access to decentralized Solana applications since 2021. But now, the integration between the services will be much more complete.

In the announcement post, Brave cited Solana’s low fees and fast transaction speeds as reasons why the browser consolidated its partnership with the network.