> if the wallet is custodial I recommend using a self custodial wallet. > even with phoenix teh issuer still maps the merchant to your IP Phoenix supports tor so you can hide your IP. Also, with a physical merchant, you are typically at *their* IP address when you make your purchase. > how do u handle the shipping address It depends on where I am, since I travel a lot. There are lots of small businesses who offer "On Demand Package Receiving Services," which means you can specify their address as a shipping destination for packages, and then pay a per-use service fee when you pick up your package, with no monthly rate required. Sometimes I use those. Consider looking for such a business in your local area and use them if they exist. If not, consider starting one in your local area, so that you can become your own customer as well as provide services to others. If neither of those is an option for you, consider renting an airbnb for use as a shipping destination, or ask a friend or neighbor or place of employment if you can ship stuff to their address and then pick it up.

> teh issuer still tracks ur spend patterns The non reloadable ones can be funded with the precise amount you need for a given tx, and then consumed. It is hard to track your spend patterns when they only have one data point. > its privacy theatre if u dont fund them with p2p coin. how r u buying the cards without a bank trail? With bitcoin, deposited into a lightning wallet.

Bitcoin doesn't require ID

Not all of the above options require KYC. Specifically, the two non-reloadable options can be purchased and used without disclosing your identity. It is wonderful if you can use Phoenix or a similar Bitcoin wallet at a merchant directly. But in circumstances where they don't accept it, I find some of the above options useful.

No, I'm telling you that if you're willing to use a middleman (where there IS counterparty risk), it is getting easier to use a self-custodial bitcoin wallet as a "checking account." You only send your sats to a custodian when you convert to fiat, and, thanks to lightning, it is feasible to do so at the time of payment, thus reducing -- but not eliminating -- counterparty risk. I personally find this useful, and I am happy to see the options for doing this grow, so that more people can do it too, and so that I have backup options if/when one or more of these options stops working.

AI helps by making it easier to write software. I'm not sure in what other ways it might help.

The one that comes closest is The Bitcoin Company. If you buy one of their Visa or Mastercard cards, not only is there no fee, you actually get a slight discount in the form of "sats back." Plus, if you end up with a leftover balance on a Bitcoin Company card, you can use that leftover balance (with another LN deposit) to fund a new card. Which makes it very close to what Pay With Moon offered. On a related note, Pay With Moon is back, but they now have a fee of 1% on every tx, minimum fee of $1. Which is terrible.

The two non-reloadable options above can be purchased without KYC. The Bitcoin company's offer is particularly noteworthy, because while it is not technically reloadable, there is a partial workaround: if you have a leftover balance, you can use that balance + another LN deposit to fund a new card. So it kinda "feels" a little bit like reloading a card, even though it's technically a new card every time, with new digits.

Noteworthy: The Bitcoin Company's card has a workaround for its non-reloadability. If you have a leftover balance on it, you can use that leftover balance + a lightning deposit to fund a new card. Which makes it "feel" reloadable, only it's technically a new card with new digits

Interesting table with respect to lightning adoption and Visa/Mastercard. It keeps getting easier to live off of bitcoin via lightning if you're okay with using one or more of these companies as a middleman.