Comment by 3d3e

The alternative is to have an admin/mod assign you a role. If you read the the text under "Verification Level" https://discord.com/safety/360043653152-Four-steps-to-a-supe... you will see that members with role don't need to have phone verification.

That being said, anecdotally I have heard Discord locking/terminating accounts without verified phone numbers (usually if suspicious activity has been detected).