The internet is constantly changing and Crypto browsers are becoming increasingly popular due to financial incentives and high-end privacy functionalities that traditional web browsers just simply do not have. Many of the existing and upcoming Crypto Currency-based browsers are now paying people to use their browsers by tracking the time they spent on the browser or alternatively sharing a portion of ad revenue for instance.
There are multiple different monetary models created by these Crypto browsers and we are gonna be exploring the differences in this article. If you also have plans to switch your search engine we recently did a blog post about great alternatives as well.
The first Crypto browser we are going to talk about is Decentr which is part of the CosmWASM ecosystem, their revenue model is working around selling the user data in exchange for the DEC tokens, which are being distributed each month. The PDV distribution model fluctuates based on usage and has a bit more nuance compared to a lot of other models in this list – On top of this the token is stakeable so you can delegate your DEC rewards for more money.
- Native coin/token: DEC (Trade at AscendEX & Poloniex)
- Mobile Version: Yes there are Android & iOS Versions
- Operating Systems: Linux, MAC & Windows
- Website: https://referral.decentr.net/?referralCode=Xj37c6ck
Next, is Cryptotab which isn’t technically paying people for “surfing” but allows you to use the browser to mine Bitcoin by using CPU/GPU in your computer or mobile/tablet device. If you do not have a very good mobile device or PC you have the option to participate in their affiliate program that allows you to recruit other people and they will be mining for you.
- Native coin/token: None (Uses BTC)
- Mobile Version: Android & iOS Versions
- Operating Systems: Windows
- Website: https://cryptotabbrowser.com/37062363
Then we have the Santa browser which is a very under-the-radar project and I was barely able to find any information about it outside their own website. They are essentially adopting the same model as Brave, but as of right now, there is no documentation of the rewards or their own token in their website. They have their own dappstore which allows you to find a lot of useful things from gaming to defi.
- Native coin/token: N/A
- Mobile Version: None
- Operating Systems: macOS & Windows
- Website: https://www.santabrowser.com
The newly released Carbon browser is currently in the Alpha stage and is only available for Android as of right now. In the near future, they will allow users to earn CSIX tokens by just browsing with the application. They come along with an advanced adblocker that is allegedly better than the rest of the competition alongside ENS, Handshake, and Unstoppable IPFS support. On their website, they also say that they are almost 4x times faster than the Brave browser.
- Native coin/token: CSIX (Trade at KuCoin & Hotbit)
- Mobile Version: Android
- Operating Systems: Android only at the moment
- Website: https://carbon.website/
Brave was in a lot of ways the very first Cryptocurrency based browser and it’s by far the most popular alternative out there. Ever since they however stopped their referral program the general interest has gone down and fewer people are talking about it. Despite that, there are still advertisers on the platform and you have the ability to earn money by viewing these ads, also if you are social media/website owner you can accept tips in BAT as well (in order to get brave rewards you will be needing an Uphold account however)
- Native coin/token: BAT (Trade at Binance, Gate, Bybit, or Phemex)
- Mobile Version: Yes there are Android & iOS Versions
- Operating Systems: Linux, MAC & Windows
- Website: https://brave.com/
In the past, there have been a couple of other crypto-based browsers but they have basically quit (NetGlobal and Bittube Browser being prime examples) once someone comes along with a very popular rewards model I’m sure there are going to be more entities who are trying to cash into the hype and start building their own crypto browsers or dapp browsers for that matter.