Correct. Phone # needed. They do have a new feature to pay and not use phone # but it's only through Google pay (play store) so defeats the purpose.

yeah it still needs a number to register, one SMS or voice call. after that you can set a username, set "who can see my number" and "find me by number" to nobody, and turn on registration lock with a PIN so the number can't be re-registered by someone else while your account is active. one catch: a data-only eSIM can't receive the signup SMS, so use a line that can.