Bitcoin, Monero, Litecoin or USDT: which coin to buy an eSIM with

SimBear · August 30, 2026 · updated September 5, 2026

eSIM plans are small purchases. The cheapest on this site is under a dollar, and a typical trip plan is a few dollars. That changes the calculation: a network fee that is a rounding error on a laptop purchase can be a third of the price of a 500 MB plan. Here is how the coins we accept compare for exactly this kind of buy.

The table

CoinTypical feeTime to deliverOn-chain privacy
Monerounder a centabout 2 minutes (1 block)Private: sender, receiver and amount hidden
Litecoina few centsabout 2.5 minutes (1 confirmation)Public ledger
USDT on Tron (TRC20)fraction of a centsecondsPublic ledger, centrally issued
USDT/USDC on BNB Chainabout a centsecondsPublic ledger, centrally issued
Bitcoinvaries, can exceed the plan priceabout 10 minutes (1 confirmation), longer with a low feePublic ledger
Ethereum / ERC20varies, often more than a small plana few minutesPublic ledger

If privacy is the point: Monero

Nothing else on the list hides the payment itself. Combined with a shop that collects no identity, a Monero-paid eSIM leaves no trail on our side and none on the chain. Fees are negligible and delivery is about two minutes. This is the default recommendation for anyone who is here for the privacy.

If you want dollars in, dollars out: USDT on Tron

Plans are priced in USD and USDT is a dollar token, so there is no exchange-rate movement while you pay, and TRC20 transfers cost almost nothing and confirm in seconds. It is the most used option here. The trade-off is that the ledger is public and the token is issued by a company. USDT eSIM details.

If you only hold Bitcoin: consider Litecoin instead

We take on-chain Bitcoin and it works fine, but on a busy day the miner fee on a two-dollar plan can be silly. Litecoin is the pragmatic sibling: cents in fees, confirmations every two and a half minutes, supported by every exchange. If you do pay in Bitcoin, pick a slightly larger plan so the fee is a smaller share, and set a fee that will confirm within an hour; we fulfil after one confirmation.

Ethereum: use it for stablecoins when gas is low

ETH itself works. ERC20 USDT and USDC work. But Ethereum gas is often more than a small plan, so we also accept the same stablecoins on Tron and BNB Chain; pick the cheaper network at checkout and send only on that network. Ethereum eSIM details.

All of them share the same rails

Every coin here is processed by our own nodes and invoicing. There is no third-party payment processor holding a copy of your transaction next to your order, which is a privacy property that does not depend on which coin you chose.

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