Proton Mail: what it is and how to use it
Proton Mail is an email service with end-to-end encryption between Proton accounts, based in Switzerland. The free sign-up does not ask for a phone number, which helps you open bitcoin accounts without tying everything to your main identity.
Overview
| Category | |
|---|---|
| KYC required | No |
| Open source | to verify |
| Price | Free plan available; paid plans from a few euros per month (check the site, Oct 2026) |
| Official site | proton.me/mail |
Tools marked as partner are listed first in their category and use an affiliate link: this site may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It does not change the assessment: each brand's limits and incidents are described with the same criteria.
How do you use Proton Mail?
- Decide the username on paper before opening the sign-up: no first or last name, year, city or nickname you use elsewhere.
- Turn on the VPN and open this site's affiliate link (jonataribas.com/r/proton) or type proton.me/mail; check in the address bar that the domain is proton.me.
- Create the free account with no real data and a long, unique password generated by a password manager. Leave optional fields empty.
- For the anti-bot check, use whatever is offered (CAPTCHA, email or phone). If only email is offered, first create a free account with another private provider, such as Tuta, and use it only for this, never your Gmail.
- Turn on the recovery phrase (12 words) under Account settings, Recovery, advanced options. Write it by hand on paper, keep it in two safe places and never photograph it or save it to the cloud.
- For your crypto identity, avoid registering a phone number or your personal email as a recovery method, and use aliases (SimpleLogin or addy.io) per service.
What are the limits and cautions?
- It reduces the link to your identity but does not guarantee anonymity: your connection and behavior still leave a trail. In OpenPGP emails, the subject and other metadata are often left unencrypted.
- The anti-bot check varies with your IP and browser, and may offer only email or SMS if you use Tor or try to create several accounts. Proton says it keeps only a hash of the email or phone used.
- Without the recovery phrase, if you forget your password even Proton cannot restore the account. This site's link is an affiliate link and may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Other Email tools
How to Buy Bitcoin Anonymously — See the book on Amazon