Anyone who just casually adds their own affiliate links without asking is not your friend. All they had to do was ask. Consent is easy. https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/8/21283769/brave-browser-affiliate-links-crypto-privacy-ceo-apology

The CEO is also known to be homophobic, has some ties with some far right chat boards, and has been resistant to privacy checkups/audits, which is a red flag on its own. I wont post links, but there are plenty of threads here and on other forum/aggregator sites where they can be found. These points are obviously something that is less about the browser itself and more the people running it, but if the people running a project are untrustworthy or exhibit behaviors that are exclusionary, one has to consider using or supporting their products.