@scott @peter nobody needs a pre existing email address. You can just hit "create profile" and get (a random) #chatmail address. If you create a first group, then in the members list there is an "invite" you can show for qr scanning or give as a link, and receivers then join this group.

You can also use a pre existing email address but we strongly recommend to use a dedicated E-Mail address then and not share it with regular classic email usage.