Brave to compete against Google with privacy-centric search engine while BAT price targets record highs

Brave is looking forward to giving Google a run for its money with its own search engine launch. The privacy-oriented browser recently announced the acquisition of an open-source search engine created by the team known for building the Cliqz anti-tracking search-browser combo. Brave is the brainchild of the former CEO of Mozilla, Brendan Eich.

Brave to introduce millions of users to a search engine free of Big Tech companies

The Brave Search engine aims at providing a 'big tech,-free search and browsing experience to its millions of users. Users will get a cutting-edge experience without compromising privacy. Current search engines rely on Big Tech Companies that completely strip users of their privacy needs. According to Brave:

"The Tailcat search engine is built on top of a completely independent index, capable of delivering the quality people expect but without compromising their privacy. The press release announcing the acquisition continues, "Tailcat does not collect IP addresses or use personally identifiable information to improve search results."

As part of the agreement, the Cliqz development team will transition to Brave. Cliqz did not see the light of day following its majority investor's exit, Hubert Burda Media, citing tough trading conditions to the pandemic.

Brave Brower has also recorded a significant increase in its users over the last year, from 11 million monthly active users to over 26 million. The team at Brave anticipates this growth to continue throughout 2021 as the need for privacy becomes apparent for users.

Basic Attention Token on-chain levels hold steady

Holders of BAT are stocking the token, perhaps anticipating a break to the all-time high of $1.08. Santiment's holder distribution model reveals a consistent surge in the number of addresses holding between 1 million and 10 million BAT over the last 30 days.

On February 2, there were 107 addresses in this range, but this figure has swelled to 128 at the time of writing, representing a 16.4% growth. In other words, buying volume is surging and is likely to increase the tailwind for another swing north.

BAT holder distribution

Santiment's data also shows that BAT Coin Supply on Exchanges (as a percentage of total supply) continues to fall significantly. In other words, investors prefer to keep their tokens in illiquid form. This drop also significantly reduces the BAT supply on exchanges, impacting the forces of demand and supply. Therefore, if investor risk appetite remains high or increases, BAT will easily swing past the record high.

BAT Coin Supply on Exchanges (as a percentage of total supply)

Note that investor sentiment can change anytime, increasing selling pressure. Most investors are currently at a profit, but if the bullish outlook flips bearish, massive selling orders would be triggered in a bid to cash out for profit.