how this directory works

Methodology

Transparency about what this site is, how entries get on it, what the labels mean, and what we won’t do.

What “no-KYC” means here

A service is no-KYC if, at the time the entry was last verified, the normal signup and use path could be completed without disclosing a government identity document, a selfie, or a bank-linked identity. Self-chosen identifiers (a username, an email address you control, a phone number you control) are not KYC. KYC begins where a service asks for a third-party verifiable identity.

The schema uses five labels:

• no KYC — no government ID requested anywhere in the standard flow.
• optional KYC — the basic flow works without ID; KYC unlocks something (a higher limit, a feature), but is not required to use the service.
• tiered KYC — no ID up to a threshold (daily volume, withdrawal cap, time-since-signup); ID enforced above it.
• KYC required — ID is required to use the service at all. We list a few enforced-KYC services for completeness or because they are sometimes misdescribed as no-KYC.
• KYC unknown — we have not been able to verify the current status. Entry has a caveat.

Inclusion criteria

• The service is reachable from a normal browser or from Tor.
• The service is in active use (or, if defunct, of historical interest; it gets the defunct or seized status).
• The no-KYC claim is testable, or there is at least one independent source documenting it.
• At least two independent sources back the entry’s major claims — operator documentation alone is not enough.

What disqualifies an entry

• The service requires KYC throughout the standard flow and the entry cannot honestly be tagged tiered or optional.
• The service has been credibly reported as an exit scam or a phishing front, and the operator has not refuted this.
• The service is sanctioned in a way that makes documenting it on this site impractical. Sanctioned services may still get a brief entry under status: seized.
• We can’t source it. If we can’t cite at least two independent references for a major claim, we leave the entry out rather than invent.

Dates and freshness

Every service entry carries a last_verified ISO date. The date reflects when the entry’s major facts were checked against sources; it is not the date the service last shipped a feature. The home page lists the most recently re-verified entries. The changelog records every refresh.

Seed entries written from training data carry the knowledge-cutoff date as last_verified and a caveats[] note indicating they need operator re-verification. Treat any entry older than six months as worth re-checking before acting on it.

Sources

Every source is a URL plus an accessed-date. We prefer:

1. The service’s own documentation (for what they claim).
2. Independent technical writeups, audit reports, court filings, or regulatory notices (for what they actually do).
3. Long-running community references (Privacy Guides, KYCnot.me / notkyc.me, Monero community wiki, /r/Bitcoin, Privacy Tools, Bitcoin Wiki) where they have a track record on the question.
4. Onion-only documentation where applicable, with a clearnet mirror preferred when one exists.

A footnote on a service entry that points to the operator’s own blog post is fine for “does the operator claim this?” questions; it is not enough for “is this true?” questions.

What this site won’t do

• Publish 1–10 scores. The fields that matter (KYC level, jurisdiction, custody model, payment methods) are visible on every entry; a single number obscures more than it tells.
• Take money for placement, run affiliate links, or accept paid “sponsored” entries. If that ever changes, this page will say so.
• Recommend services for illegal activity. Where law is materially relevant (mixers, sanctioned services, certain hosting types) we flag it factually with a source and stop short of legal advice.
• Track readers. There is no analytics, no telemetry, no cookies, no third-party fonts.

Corrections

If an entry has the facts wrong — outdated KYC status, wrong jurisdiction, a missing caveat — send the entry URL and the correction via the contact form. Major corrections land in the next changelog cycle and the entry’s last_verified moves forward only after the new claim is sourced.

License

Content is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 unless an individual entry says otherwise. Mirroring is welcome; please keep the source link.