$11.18 buys 10 GB of mobile data in Turkey for 30 days. The same page sells 1 GB for $2.32. The gap between those two prices is the first thing to understand about eSIMs, and it's easier to see on one real purchase than in the abstract.

An eSIM is a data plan you install on your phone without a physical card. You buy it for a country, install it, and the phone gets a local connection. The rest of this piece follows one purchase, a Turkey plan, from the price list to the first connection.

The price ladder

The Turkey eSIM page lists six plans: 1 GB for 7 days at $2.32, 3 GB for 15 days at $5.74, 3 GB for 30 days at $5.85, 5 GB for 30 days at $8.65, 10 GB for 30 days at $11.18 and 20 GB for 30 days at $19.83. The page also shows the cost per gigabyte, and that's the column worth reading. It runs from $2.32 per GB on the smallest plan down to $0.99 per GB on the largest.

So the cheapest plan isn't the cheapest data. If you'll use a few gigabytes over a month of maps, messages and the odd video call, 10 GB at $11.18 works out at $1.12 per GB and beats three separate 1 GB plans by a wide margin. If you're passing through for a weekend, the 1 GB plan is the right size and the per-gigabyte price doesn't matter.

One detail changes the maths on longer trips. The 30 days on these plans start at first connection, not at purchase. You can buy before you travel and the clock waits until the phone connects.

Two checks before paying

The page puts a quick test next to the buy button: dial *#06# on the phone. If an EID number appears, the phone supports eSIM. The second check is on the page too, and it's easy to skip: the phone must not be locked to one operator. A locked phone can hold the plan's profile but won't use it on another network.

Then read the plan details. This one runs on Vodafone, with 5G where coverage allows. It's data only, with no phone number, and your own SIM keeps working for calls and texts. Websites see a Netherlands IP address, not a Turkish one, which matters if you plan to use a service that checks your location.

Paying and installing

Here's where Genghis comes in. On the Turkey eSIM page you pick the plan, tick the box that says your phone supports eSIM and isn't locked, and pay in Bitcoin, USDT or any of the 300+ other coins the site accepts. There's no KYC at checkout, and the code appears on screen once the payment confirms on the network. Each country has its own page, and the eSIM hub lists 50 destinations plus a Europe plan covering 33 countries and territories.

After the code appears, install the plan from your phone's eSIM settings and turn it on when you arrive. Because the 30 days start at first connection, there's no rush to install on the day you buy, but doing it before you leave means you can test the install while you still have wifi to fix anything.

Pay with a coin whose price you're happy to lock in at that moment. The plan is priced in USD, so a stablecoin means the figure on the page is the figure you spend, while a volatile coin means the amount of crypto leaving your wallet depends on the rate at the time you pay.

The same plans in Japan and Europe

The ladder has the same shape elsewhere, with different prices. Japan's 10 GB for 30 days costs $14.94, which is $1.49 per GB, and the 1 GB week costs $3.25. The network is NTT docomo. The Europe plan covers 33 countries on one eSIM, and its 10 GB for 30 days costs $17.97, or $1.80 per GB. That plan shows a United States IP address, so a service that checks your location will see the US, not the country you're standing in.

The Europe plan costs more per gigabyte than a single-country plan, and what you buy with the difference is not swapping plans at a border. Count the borders you'll cross. For a trip through two countries, two single-country plans can cost less than one regional plan. For five, the regional plan saves you the juggling.

Both pages say the same thing about money at checkout: the network fee shows at payment, and your wallet may add its own. Check both figures before you confirm, because a $2.32 plan paid from a wallet with a high fee isn't a $2.32 plan.

One limit worth knowing

The plan is data only. It has no phone number, so calls and texts still go to the SIM you already have, including any bank codes sent by text. If you need a local number that can receive calls, a data plan isn't that.