Brave Software first released the privacy-focused Brave browser in 2016.
Brave was created by Brendan Eich, the JavaScript inventor and former Mozilla CEO, and Brian Bondy, a former Mozilla programmer. The company positioned Brave as a faster, privacy-oriented browser that blocks advertisements and trackers by default rather than relying on conventional browser advertising models.
The first public release arrived on January 20, 2016. Early versions used a custom Electron-based framework, but Brave later moved to Chromium’s codebase to reduce maintenance work and improve compatibility with Chrome extensions. That change did not make Brave a Google browser; Brave removed or avoided many Google services and retained its own privacy controls.
Brave is also associated with Basic Attention Token, or BAT, introduced in 2017. Its optional Brave Rewards system lets users receive BAT-related rewards for viewing privacy-preserving ads. Blocking trackers, private windows with Tor connectivity, and Chromium compatibility are separate features often bundled together when people describe Brave.