Brave wallet setup requires gas fees

Brave Rewards Rewards Support
1

Description of the issue:

Brave wallet setup: help articles say there are no fees to setup and you don’t need a BAT account to create a Brave wallet.

Every time I go through the process it says it needs gas fees.

Either make instructions and help pages say how to do that in clear steps,
or be honest and say there is a cost to setup a Brave wallet,
or say there is some other way - maybe using another wallet, maybe if it’s true that “you don’t need a BAT account to start receiving rewards” those rewards could be used to cover gas fees on a subsequent step in the process, but the process funnels the user to the point where it says to create a BAT account and requires fees.

Is the issue occurring on a specific network?
No

What operating system are you using?
Windows

Brave Version (check About Brave):
Brave 1.84.141 (Official Build) (64-bit)
Chromium: 142.0.7444.176

Additional Information:

The setup process is in reality as follows:

New tab card:
“REWARDS | Ready to start earning? | Connect a payout account“
…

“Choose where you’d like to receive BATs
To begin earning Basic Attention Token (BAT) rewards, connect an account.
BATs you earn will be automatically transferred to your account every month.”

2 Options:

“Custodial accounts (requires ID verification)

  • Uphold
    Log in or sign up / Learn more about regions and support.

Self-custody

  • NEW Brave Wallet
    Or other wallet that supports Solana
    With self-custody, BAT earnings will be paid out as SPL-BAT on the Solana network. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.”

Click Brave wallet…

“Select a Solana wallet to connect
Your earnings will be paid in BAT tokens on Solana network.

  • Brave Wallet Recommended
    Log in or create a new wallet to get started | Connect

  • MetaMask | Connect”

…
Here is where I must have made a Brave wallet the first time - it opens ok

…

“Create a BAT account on Solana
You’ll create a BAT account linked to your Solana wallet address below:
5N0b…fp9e
To receive BAT payouts using a Solana address, you’ll need to create a BAT account that’s linked to your Solana address. You will only receive payouts while your BAT account is open. Learn more.
Note: Creating a BAT account on Solana requires a small amount of SOL. Make sure you have enough SOL at your address before proceeding.
Create BAT account
Use different wallet”
…

“Solana Mainnet Beta
Solana Account 1
Approve transaction
Transaction Details
Transaction fee

  • 0.000005 SOL
    $0.0006549
    Total Transaction fee
    0 SOL

  • 0.000005 SOL
    $0.000655
    Insufficient funds for gas
    Network fees
    $0.000655Edit
    Insufficient funds for gas

Confirm / Reject“

Which is it? I can create a Brave wallet for free or there is no way to start receiving rewards without paying for a BAT account?

As a necessary part of the process, to pretend it is free is a lie.

Now I have to discuss this on a public forum. Entirely unsatisfactory.

This has a further annoyance - having gone through the process several more times while writing this - where the wallet popup that appears on the right hand side of the screen vanishes when changing between tabs.

Clicking the “Create BAT account” button again seems to generate additional transactions - indicated at top right of the wallet popup “1 of2” / “1 of 7” etc.

Having rejected the several transactions generated in attempts to continue the process and document what is the actual process experienced I can get to a transaction that appears to require no fees:

“Solana Mainnet Beta

Solana Account 1
Approve transaction

Transaction Details

Transaction fee
0 SOL
$0.00

Total Transaction fee
0 SOL
0 SOL
$0.00
Network fees
$0.00
Edit”

but sadly even though this 0 fee transaction screen has appeared twice I am unable to consistently get that 0 fee transaction to appear, and hence cannot show the error it throws anyway after clicking Confirm.

If this system works there must be a way to describe it accurately and thoroughly.

If I should use a wallet other than Brave wallet to get started, tell me that.
Or say there is a cost and lay out the steps how to go through the process.
There are multiple articles saying there is no cost to setup - then please show me how.

Also if rewards are only paid while the wallet is open and it automatically closes after 5 or 10 minutes - another part of setup - how does anyone ever get paid?

This all might make perfect sense to someone but the scraps of information don’t add up.

This is a singular process - there should be a singular, coherent procedure to follow, ideally with an overview to show clearly how the parts relate and then steps to follow.

Several forum posts show that some people feel that users should have to research concepts and work hard to piece together an idea of how things might work, but if the same effort that is put into smug half-answers strewn across umpteen webpages were applied to a process that could be followed by people who don’t have a PhD in cryptography then adoption would be more likely - not just of brave rewards but the entire endeavour to free humanity from the monopoly of central banking system. fwiw.

Typically what is more aggravating than a tricky process is the contempt shown for noobs who are not stupid - simply uninformed and whose experience does not adhere to the documentation - and thus the documentation is what is incorrect as the experience repeated over and over again is the reality and the documentation is a fiction.

2 Likes
2

@boddha let’s break a few things apart here. First and foremost, Rewards and Wallet are two separate things.

1. Wallet Setup Fees

Correct, there are no fees for setting up Brave Wallet. When you visit the FAQ and much documentation, it explains this. I’ll paste the official explanation below:

  • Is Brave Wallet free?

Brave, and Brave Wallet, are entirely free to use. However, most blockchain transactions require network fees (e.g. Ethereum gas fees). Fees vary on each network based on demand and other factors.

Certain types of transactions (like swaps and crypto purchases) may also include Brave fees. These fees will be displayed transparently, and are similar to or the same as other wallets.

2. Solana Account Requirement

Right, so it explains there and in many other articles that you will need SOL in your Wallet if you don’t already have a BAT account on it. It explains this is required through Solana and not through Brave, as it’s an Associated Token Account and the link I just inserted is provided. If you don’t want to believe that, you can always look to Solana directly and read through their details at https://solana.com/docs/tokens/basics/create-token-account or perhaps via https://solana.com/docs/tokens

3. The Core Question

Both statements are true, and they refer to different things. Brave Wallet itself is free to create. It is simply a place to hold your assets. Receiving BAT on Solana requires a BAT token account. If you already hold BAT on Solana, then that account exists. If you do not, the network requires you to create one, and that creation uses a small amount of SOL.

Overall you need about $1 worth of SOL in your account so that ATA can process properly and you can start receiving funds.

3

The wallet does not need to be kept open or unlocked for you to get paid.

Think of your wallet address like a mailbox or a bank vault: it exists 24/7 on the blockchain, regardless of whether you are currently looking at it. When Brave sends the payout, they drop it into that address automatically. You do not need to be online or have the app open to receive it.

Regarding the SOL requirement: This is a one-time setup for the Associated Token Account (ATA).

Think of it like a bank that requires a minimum deposit to open a new checking account. On Solana, this one-time “deposit” is called rent, which sounds weird when you consider you don’t need to pay it ever again. You need a tiny amount of SOL (about $1 worth) in the wallet to effectively “pay for the paperwork” to open the BAT account. Once that account is open and linked, Brave pays all future transaction fees to send your rewards there.

1 Like
4

I have a question, so my brave rewards says I could be getting paid for the 183 ads I’ve seen this month, why can’t they just take the small fee out of that so I don’t have to waste money in order to set up the wallet? As buying just $1 usd of sol is a waste considering the fee.

5

@Squiddly it sounds like you might not have worked with cryptocurrency before, especially on Solana.

An Associated Token Account will not appear by itself if the recipient has no SOL. Any token transfer will fail unless someone covers the rent fee that creates the account.

For Brave to display a BAT account that can receive tokens, that account has to exist first. If the user is not the one creating it, Brave is left with two options.

  1. Brave could fund the creation of the account up front. That would mean paying both the token send and the transaction cost right from the start.

  2. They could bring back a vBAT type system where earnings live separately and are converted later.

Both choices come with significant drawbacks. They involve cost and risk for Brave, create potential regulatory trouble in some regions, and add extra complexity that increases the chances of errors.

This is why they arrived at the decision they did, which is to say the user needs to have the account setup first. It’s just how Solana works and is what people need to do.

6

This response honestly feels a bit pedantic. The language around signing up for rewards absolutely would lead a normal person to think it will be a free signup. Not “the signup is free but if you want to get paid, you have to jump through some hoops and pay some crypto.”

It’s a technical necessity? OK, then I agree with him that it should be communicated clearly so people don’t waste 30 minutes of their time jumping through hoops. It pissed him off enough to write a long and thoughtful post that is just being dismissed. It pissed me off enough to signup for an account and post this comment. How do I feel about Brave right now?

7

And I think this is particularly on point