- Ad tech startup Slice incorporates Bitcoin’s lightning network into its web browser extension.
- Slice’s browser extension implements Zebedee’s tech to pay users who view ads with BTC.
Rewarding users with crypto is an idea popularized by the browsing platform, Brave. The side benefit is that Brave’s user count has been rising since then. Following their success, many other browsers, such as Chrome, have included similar functionality to reward their users with Bitcoin.
Today, ad tech startup Slice announced the integration of Bitcoin payments into its browser extension. Slice users surfing the web can earn crypto rewards when they view ads. This new Slice browser extension is free and works with several other browsers, notably Brave, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Google Chrome.
This new extension is built on Zebedee’s technology; Zebedee is a Bitcoin payments startup. This technology enables micropayments by using Bitcoin’s lightning network. Web browsers will see various advertisements slotted into web pages.
Users earn points (known as Slices) for viewing such ads. Then, they can swap their Slices for Bitcoin once they have a Zebedee account. In an official statement, Slice co-founder and COO, Darina Oumanski, commented that people browsing the internet had earned the right to receive rewards for their attention.
Hence, it is not bad if that reward is in the form of real money they can receive immediately.
A Zebedee representative said Brave users could earn crypto rewards in two ways. They can get Bitcoin rewards from Slice and Basic Attention Token (BAT) from Brave. Bat is Brave’s native token. Thus, the amount of crypto rewards Brave users can earn depends on how many ads they view while browsing.
Is Zebedee shifting focus?
Previously, Zebedee’s technological focus has been on games. Last year, it launched modified servers for its popular first-person shooter game “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, CS:GO.” Thus, players can wager and win Satoshis (or SATS). SATS are smaller divisions of Bitcoin (BTC), and 100 million Satoshis is equivalent to one BTC.
Recently, Zebedee and Viker (a game developer) announced a joint partnership that would enable the expansion of the BTC-reward model to famous games such as Sudoku, Solitaire, and Missing Letters (a wordle-like game). Players of any of these games receive free Satoshis for their efforts once they meet the requirements for winning.
Three months ago, Square Enix led other investors in helping Zebedee raise $35 million in Series B funding. Square Enix, the famous video game publisher, owns blockbuster series such as Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy. Lately, Square Enix has been making various moves in the Web3 and NFT space.
It plans to diversify into new gaming technologies, especially blockchain-built games. In May 2022, the Japan-based company sold three of its studios and top properties, notably Tomb Raider, to fund its new business moves with particular attention to the blockchain space. The Embrace Group reportedly paid Square Enix $300 million for three of the latter’s properties and some of its game studios. There are nearly 1,100 employees across the three studios.
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