A directory only matters if its judgement matters. This page documents how we grade, tag, accept, reject, and remove listings. It's terse on purpose so it stays honest.
| Grade | What it means | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| A | Strong privacy posture. Anonymous signup or audited no-logs. Operator track record. Active maintenance. | Mullvad · Proton Mail · Njalla |
| B | Good privacy posture with one trade-off — light email at signup, smaller server fleet, less-audited claims. | IVPN · Wasabi · Tutanota |
| C | Usable but compromised — KYC at the payment edge, fork that hasn't stabilized, narrow feature set. | Windscribe |
| D | Listed for completeness or comparison only. Heavy KYC, weak privacy claims, or unproven operator. | (rarely listed) |
| F | Reserved for providers we have evidence have stolen funds, leaked customer data, or knowingly cooperated with mass deanonymization. Listed only as warnings. | (currently empty) |
Free-combine labels that describe properties of the service. Used for the click-to-filter chips on category pages.
xmr.club
open_source · non_custodial · self_hosted · cli_supportedtor_mirror · i2p_mirror · xmr_native · lightning_nativeatomic_swap · audited · port_forwarding · ram_only_serverstransparent_fees · hidden_feesWe grade on transparency of fees, not on the absolute fee level. A 5% exchange that names the 5% upfront beats a 3% exchange that surfaces 1% in marketing and pockets the other 2% as silent spread.
transparent_fees — the quote shown before deposit equals what the user receives (minus destination-network fees, surfaced separately). No silent spread, no post-deposit slippage adjustment.hidden_fees — the visible quote understates what the provider keeps. Typical patterns: spread baked into the rate, withdrawal markup beyond actual network cost, partner slippage absorbed and not refunded. Fails the transparent_fees test and auto-caps grade at C.When a routing-style swap operator goes rogue, direct legal recourse is often impossible. Some operators post a guarantee with a peer directory (e.g. OrangeFren) — a pool of funds that pays users out if the operator misbehaves, up to a published amount.
data.guarantees.<peer>.{amount_usd, source_url}; available programmatically via /api/v1/guarantees.Casinos and prediction markets carry risks the rest of the directory doesn't: house-edge games can be rigged, and prediction-market resolutions can be disputed. We hold them to additional checks on top of the standard rubric.
/wagering/casinos)/wagering/prediction-markets)⚠ Gambling is restricted in some jurisdictions. Listing does not imply endorsement; verify your local law before participating.
last_verified. We re-test the signup + checkout flow on each entry at minimum once per year. Live status: /freshness.operating_since — the year the current operator has been continuously serving users. Operators with 5+ years (a full crypto cycle) get an implicit trust bump; fresh launches under 2 years are listed with extra caveats. Full ranking: /tenure.Spot a mistake? File via /submit or DM @xmrclub_bot. Every accepted correction lands in the public audit log with the reason. Disputes about grade or removal are documented; we don't quietly delete inconvenient context.
CURATOR-BUILT chip so the relationship is explicit. Same rubric applies — see /transparency./go/<slug>. They do not change a listing's grade or position.