There’s an animated screen capture of this happening here: https://twitter.com/cryptonator1337/status/12692014801055784...
Chrome: type in Binance.us and immediately press enter - no referral code.
Brave: type in Binance.us and immediately press enter - yes referral code.
This experience sucks, but at least the refs aren't fully hardcoded.
Github issue: https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/10129
You don't "type a link" into an address bar. You "type an address" (a URL).
Hijacking links has a specific meaning and this isn't it (edit: this remains true no matter how much you downvote me without explaining)
I can see how Brave's practice can be considered bad/deceiving though, especially if it hadn't been disclosed.
The list of suggested sites have embedded referral links.
These are not random websites they are hijacking for affiliate money like the article purports. These are all advertisers / partners that appear on the new tab landing page when you sign up for Brave rewards...This is affiliate tracking for advertisements baked into the browser itself not some nefarious scheme to skim off someones else's traffic.