smsroute is crypto-only — this is deliberate, not ideological. Card-processing fees and chargeback reserves structurally add 3-5% to every low-dollar transaction. For a product where a single SMS costs less than a cent, that overhead is the difference between pass-through wholesale rates and retail CPaaS pricing. Operating on crypto rails also means we can onboard users in every country we deliver to — in under a minute, with no bank relationship — which lets us keep signup to email + password with no KYC gate. This page covers the six supported cryptocurrencies and when to use each.
Supported cryptocurrencies
USDT LIVE
Networks: TRC-20 (preferred) or ERC-20. Confirmation: ~1 minute on TRC-20, 2-3 minutes on ERC-20. Fee: <$1 on TRC-20; $1-8 on ERC-20.
USDT on TRC-20 is the default recommendation — dollar-stable, near-instant, essentially free to send. $5 in TRC-20 USDT funds ~556 SMS to Brazil, ~1250 to the Philippines, ~238 to Germany.
Bitcoin LIVE
Network: Bitcoin mainnet. Confirmation: 10-30 minutes (1 confirmation). Fee: $0.50-3 depending on mempool.
Bitcoin is the legitimacy/scarcity play — use it if your treasury is already in BTC and you don't want to sell for stables. Network fees on mainnet make sub-$10 top-ups uneconomical; we recommend topping up $50+ at a time to amortize fees.
Monero LIVE
Network: Monero mainnet. Confirmation: 2-20 minutes (10-confirmation wait for credit). Fee: <$0.50.
Monero is the privacy option — on-chain, no transaction graph leaks to a block explorer, no address clustering. If your threat model requires the top-up itself to be private (not just the SMS content), XMR is the right choice.
Ethereum guide coming soon
Network: Ethereum mainnet. Confirmation: 2-3 minutes. Fee: $1-8 depending on gas market.
ETH on mainnet is supported today; the deposit address generates in your dashboard. The detailed guide page (gas tips, common pitfalls, L2 notes) is being written.
Litecoin guide coming soon
Network: Litecoin mainnet. Confirmation: 2-5 minutes. Fee: <$0.10.
Litecoin is cheap and fast, good for users who hold LTC balances or want a Bitcoin-adjacent option with lower fees. Deposits supported today; guide page is being written.
Solana guide coming soon
Network: Solana mainnet. Confirmation: under 30 seconds. Fee: <$0.01.
Solana has the fastest finality and lowest fees of any supported chain. SPL-USDC and native SOL are both accepted. Guide page is being written.
Which crypto to use when
| If you want... | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest + fastest top-up | USDT TRC-20 | <$1 fee, ~1 min confirmation, dollar-stable |
| On-chain privacy | Monero | Transaction graph not public; no address clustering |
| Already hold BTC in treasury | Bitcoin | Top up $50+ to amortize network fee; no conversion needed |
| Sub-second finality | Solana | Under 30s confirmation, <$0.01 fee, great for frequent small top-ups |
| Low-fee Bitcoin-family chain | Litecoin | <$0.10 fee, 2-5 min confirmation |
| Pay from DeFi / ETH wallet | Ethereum or USDT ERC-20 | Same network as your existing holdings; gas tradeoff |
How top-ups work
Every top-up generates a fresh deposit address shown in your dashboard. Send any amount above the $5 minimum; your balance credits as soon as the transaction reaches the required confirmation count for that chain. There are no processing fees on top of the network fee — 100% of the dollar-value we receive credits to your account.
Pricing is in USD. Crypto top-ups convert to USD balance at the market rate at the time of confirmation. Your SMS is then billed in USD per the per-country grid. This means you don't carry crypto-price risk on your SMS budget — once the top-up credits, the dollar balance is fixed.