Pro/Con of “Privacy” Phone Numbers/Services

JMP.chat

Type: Number

Pro: No KYC VoIP to XMPP (or Matrix) for anonymous Bitcoin, so you're using an open source client

Con: Only US and Canada numbers. They're just reselling Twillio VoIP, which means that not only are you just paying more just for anonymity, but many services recognize these as Twillio VoIP numbers and will block you.

Solutions: There exists the possibility of buying a real world physical SIM and then transferring over service to JMP VoIP. But you’re better off using 1 time burner services for most account registry.

Hushed

Type: Number

Pro: No KYC VoIP for Bitcoin, similar to JMP.chat

Con: Uses their proprietary client which isn’t private through the Google Play store. I’d avoid Hushed.

Silent Link

Type: Number + Service

Pro: No KYC Crypto SIM card that separates billing and identity from the literal cell tower carrier

Con: Uses eSIM which requires Graphene’s Google Push service sandboxed. No outgoing calls.

Calyx Institute Hotspots

Type: Service

Pro: No KYC WiFi hotspot for Crypto

Con: It’s just reselling T-mobile service, so if you use this in your home and your home is KYC, then T-mobile will likely figure out that it’s you since celltowers see geolocation.

Solutions: You can avoid this by putting the hotspot in a faraday bag, and only using it outside your home.

MySudo

Type: Number

Pro: Multiple burner VoIP lines

Con: Requires Google Play store JUST to PAY for it, but then can be used on a degoogled phone once you add credit.

Solutions: This can be sandboxed or put on a separate old device and you can use bitrefill to buy the credits with cryptocurrency

SMS.usmobilenumbers.com

Type: Number

Pro: Quick easy cheap burner anonymous SMS verification for cryptocurrency. It’s real SIMs and not VoIP.

Con: US only. They resell the number for OTHER services, which MAY trigger anti-fraud for SOME services including Zelle, eBay, PayPal, LinkedIn, and others. So you risk a ban on accounts.

Solutions: Avoid putting money in any account for a few days to see. Use a residential proxy IP instead of a datacenter VPN, especially for eBay.

VirtualSim.net

Type: Number

Pro: Great for abusing foreign numbers in poor countries such as Cambodia or Ukraine for Signal or Telegram. Quick easy cheap burner anonymous SMS verification and/or longer term monthly numbers for cryptocurrency. It’s real SIMs and not VoIP. Their customer support is excellent and we highly recommend them for Telegram verifications.

Con: They may loose access to the burner number after a period of time (like a year) where you can’t renew and someone else COULD potentially verify the number.

Crypton.sh

Type: Number

Pro: Huge amount of countries for real SMS anonymous crypto. Get sought after Western European #s here that normally have strict KYC rules on physical SIMs

Con: Overpriced setup fee for 1 time SMS verification, but if you actually live in (or desire) that country it’s okay. There’s no real purpose in all their “at rest encryption” advertising, because SMS is unencrypted transport.

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Samui Airport, Thailand. Blissful scenery, and totally private. Built + operated by private industry 💪

I need to go to Austria/Germany more often

if any other bitcoiners are braving it among the elite in Davos this week, drop me a line! I'll be there spreading the gospel

Can you give us some inside baseball on what’s going down over there? Or a write up about what’s happening?

What hardware are you running on now?