Brave expands Basic Attention Token platform to YouTube

(disclosure, I work at google, and previously at YouTube)

This allows a user to donate to a content creator even if that creator doesn't have any way to get access the donations. That is, until youtubers start registering themselves in the payment tool, this is essentially watching someone's video, and then throwing money into a hole.

With other patronage systems, like patreon, you cannot donate money until the creator has an account. To me, that feels super sketch.

Edit: It reminded me to go and check my old bitcointip and altcointip accounts on reddit, on which I apparently had combined closed to $30 in BTC at today's prices, but which have both been shuttered and are now inaccessible. That's not promising.

The money doesn't go "into a hole". The funds are saved and a creator can retrieve them at any time once they sign up for an account: https://brave.com/publishers/#getverified Basically, it's their money, and whether they decide to withdraw it or not is entirely up to them.

IMO this is the right way to do it because it solves the chicken and egg problem that would normally exist with a universal funding method like this. Users don't have to worry about what payment platforms their favorite creators support; they can just browse the web like normal and the platform takes care of the rest.

It's thrown into a hole in exactly the same way that my $30 I tipped btc is not mine, because I never got it out of the system.

Edit: I said it better in response to a sibling of yours: I think it's unethical for a platform to accept payment on my behalf without my permission.

> I think it's unethical for a platform to accept payment on my behalf without my permission.

Would it be similarly unethical to accept donations to {charity} without first getting their approval?

If I accept donations for ${Charity}, but then say "well they have to actually ask me for it before I send it to them ...", and in the meantime it sits in my bank account, I feel like that _would_ be somewhat unethical.

If the charity had to jump through hoops to receive the donations, yes. If the creators could just get a check in the mail, or BAT were converted to cash and forwarded to an existing patreon, I wouldn't have the same concerns that I do as is.

I'm not sure what you're expecting them to do. They already send creators an email telling them how to claim their money once the accumulated funds reach a significant amount. How is that any less convenient than a check in the mail?

Oh, I have read emails promising me free money before! Are you saying those might have actually been legit, and that they should not have automatically gone to my spam bucket?