The privacy-focused browser Brave reported Wednesday that it has passed 50 million monthly active users, effectively doubling its growth year-over-year for the fifth year in a row.

The browser also ended the year with 15.5 million average daily active users. Brave Search, a privacy-focused search engine launched in March, reached 2.3 million search queries during 2021.

Brave’s total market share is still small compared with the most used browsers, such as Google Chrome, which holds market dominance at an estimated 3.2 billion worldwide users, according to Statista.

The attraction of the free Chromium-based browser is that it protects its users from intrusive advertisements online with a built-in ad blocker. The browser also includes powerful privacy controls, incognito windows, private search and integrated virtual private networking.

“Passing 50 million users is … a powerful confirmation of the global movement underway led by users seeking alternatives to the surveillance economy,” said Brendan Eich, co-founder and chief executive of Brave. “We’ve spent a successful year expanding our product range and our ecosystem, engaging with partners who share our vision for a web free from Big Tech’s shackles.”

Aside from providing ad blocking capabilities, Brave also allows users to be paid for their own ad viewing habits. It does this with a cryptocurrency integration and the Basic Attention Token. Instead of intrusive ads, users can opt for privacy-respecting ads sent from Brave’s network that then pay in BAT tokens when they are viewed that go into an attached crypto wallet.

According to the company, the revenue from Brave Ads has grown over by a factor of four over the past 12 months and more than 8 million users are earning BAT rewards.

Brave Ad campaigns have been supported in nearly 200 countries with an increasing number of advertising partners from mainstream brands such as Ford, PayPal, Toyota, Mastercard, Intel, BMW and more. The average click-through rate for these campaigns is about 8%, which is well above the industry average of 2%.

In 2021, Brave also launched its own integrated cryptocurrency wallet, the Brave Wallet. It’s a browser-native wallet built directly into the desktop and mobile browsers that allows users to receive, store, swap and manage their cryptocurrencies from a single place.

“We aim to double this growth again in 2022 and engage with even more users who seek a privacy-conscious way to browse the Web that rewards them instead of punishes them with tracking, and helps them directly support creators,” said Eich.

Image: Brave