Most people in Georgia get their first crypto wallet by accident. You buy Bitcoin at a Cryptomat in Tbilisi and the screen asks for an address. A developer’s broker in Batumi wants your USDT “on TRC-20”. A friend sends you a few dollars in Telegram. Suddenly you need a crypto wallet, and the App Store offers you a hundred.
This guide sorts that out. It explains the two decisions that matter — who holds the keys, and whether the wallet is online — then goes through the wallets people in Georgia actually use, the networks you need for local services, where to buy a hardware wallet when no shop in Tbilisi is an authorised reseller, and how to protect your seed phrase and plan for your family. If you are new to crypto altogether, start with what cryptocurrency is.
Who holds the keys: custodial and non-custodial
Every crypto wallet comes down to one question: who controls the private keyPrivate keyThe secret code that signs transactions from your address. A seed phrase is a human-readable backup of it. that signs transactions?
A custodialCustodialSomeone else (an exchange, a bank app) holds the keys for you. Easy to use, but you depend on that company. wallet is an account. An exchange, a bank app or a service holds the keys and shows you a balance. Your Bybit, OKX or Binance account is custodial; so is the crypto inside the TBC app, which runs on Bybit Georgia’s infrastructure, and Hash Bank’s in-app crypto, where the bank acts as custodian. The upside is convenience: forgotten password, call support. The downside is that the company can freeze, restrict or lose your coins, and if it is not registered with the National Bank of Georgia, you have no Georgian regulator to turn to. Our guide to crypto apps in Georgia covers these app-based options.
A non-custodialNon-custodialYou hold the keys yourself. Nobody can freeze the wallet — and nobody can recover it if you lose the seed phrase. wallet is software or a device that generates keys on your side and never shares them. Trust Wallet, MetaMask, Keeper, Exodus, Phantom and all hardware wallets are non-custodial. Nobody can freeze the wallet itself — though Tether can freeze USDT at a specific address, which we come back to below. Nobody can rescue you either. Lose the seed phraseSeed phrase12 or 24 words that restore your wallet on any device. Whoever has them owns the coins — never type them into a website or send a photo of them. and the device, and the coins are gone.
A sensible split for most people in Georgia: keep trading money on an exchange, everyday amounts in a phone wallet you control, and savings on a hardware wallet.
Hot wallets and cold wallets
The second question is whether the keys sit on an internet-connected device.
A hot walletHot walletA wallet app connected to the internet (phone or browser). Convenient for everyday amounts, riskier for savings. is an app on your phone or a browser extension. It is fast — scan the QR code at the Cryptomat, done — and fine for amounts you would be annoyed but not ruined to lose. Phones get stolen, malware exists, and a fake “airdrop” link can drain a hot wallet in seconds.
A cold walletCold walletAny wallet whose keys stay offline — a hardware device or even a paper backup. keeps the keys offline. In practice that means a hardware walletHardware walletA small physical device (Ledger, Trezor, Tangem card) that stores your keys offline and signs transactions only when you press a button. — a Ledger, a Trezor or a Tangem card — that signs a transaction only after you confirm it physically on the device. Cold storageCold storageKeeping crypto on a device that is never connected to the internet, such as a hardware wallet. Slower to use, much harder to hack. is slower and costs money upfront, but a hacked laptop cannot sign anything without it.
The wallets people in Georgia actually use
None of these companies is Georgian or registered with the National Bank of Georgia. With the non-custodial ones that hardly matters, because the developer never holds your coins — the safety of the funds depends on you. Facts below come from each company’s own website.
Phone and browser wallets
Trust Wallet is the default choice for many in Georgia because it handles Tron (TRC-20 USDT), Bitcoin and Ethereum in one app. It supports 100+ blockchains on iOS, Android and as a browser extension, and states that private keys never leave your device. In-app purchases go through third-party providers, so compare their price with what you’d pay elsewhere.
MetaMask, now at metamask.com, started as an Ethereum wallet and now claims 700+ supported networks, including Bitcoin and Solana. It is the wallet most decentralised apps expect. The MetaMask Card, a Mastercard issued through third parties with 1% back, has unconfirmed availability in Georgia; see our crypto cards guide.
Exodus is a desktop and mobile wallet with a friendly interface. Its website blocked our checks, so we rely on general knowledge: it is self-custodial, multi-asset and integrates with Trezor hardware wallets. Confirm the details on exodus.com before relying on them.
Phantom is self-custodial, claims more than 20 million users and integrates with Ledger. It started on Solana; its homepage does not list supported chains, so check that your coin and network are supported before sending anything. It also offers a prepaid Visa debit card, but we could not confirm it for Georgian residents.
Telegram wallets: Walt and Keeper
Telegram is everywhere in Georgia, so its wallets deserve a closer look — especially because both have been renamed, and old guides still use the old names.
Walt is the wallet built into Telegram. Its website says it was “formerly known as Wallet in Telegram”, and wallet.tg now redirects to walt.io. It is custodial by default: the operator, TG Wallet Inc. of Panama, holds the keys, although a separate self-custodial “DeFi Account” exists. It supports 200+ assets including BTC, USDT and Gram. Telegram’s old wallet had a P2P market where some users traded lari; we could not confirm whether Walt still offers that.
Keeper is the app previously called Tonkeeper; tonkeeper.com redirects to keeperwallet.com, which says “Tonkeeper is now Keeper”. Unlike Walt, it is self-custodial. It now supports TON, Tron, Ethereum, Bitcoin, Solana, BNB Chain and others. Its “Battery” feature lets you pay network fees in the token you’re sending on eight networks, which Keeper says makes Tron transfers up to 50% cheaper — useful for TRC-20 USDT.
On the same theme: TON’s own website now describes its coin as Gram, “also known as Toncoin”, and Cryptal lists it as “Gram (ex-Ton)”. We could not confirm the exact date of the rename.
Hardware wallets
Ledger currently sells the Ledger Atom, Stax, Flex, Nano Gen5 and Nano Classics; the Nano S Plus and Nano X are no longer on its homepage. Devices use a Secure Element chip, and the companion app is now called Ledger Wallet (formerly Ledger Live). Ledger states plainly that it will never ask for your 24 words.
Trezor sells the Safe 7, Safe 5 and Safe 3, each also in a Bitcoin-only version. Its firmware is fully open source and it pairs with the Trezor Suite app. The Bitcoin-only versions suit someone who only stacks BTC from ATMs.
Tangem is an NFC card (or ring) that you tap against your phone. It has no battery and no screen, a seed phrase is optional, and a set of two or three cards works as built-in backups. Tangem lists 90+ blockchains. At the time of our check, tangem.com priced the two-card set at $54.90, three cards at $69.90 and the ring at $160, with free shipping over $100 but duties not included.
Comparison of popular wallets
| Wallet | Form | Who holds keys | Networks worth noting | Georgia note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Wallet | Phone, extension | You | 100+ chains incl. Tron, BTC | Keep TRX for TRC-20 fees |
| MetaMask | Extension, phone | You | 700+ networks claimed | Card in Georgia unconfirmed |
| Walt | Inside Telegram | Operator | 200+ assets incl. USDT, Gram | GEL P2P unconfirmed |
| Keeper | Phone, desktop, web | You | TON, Tron, BTC, ETH, Solana | Battery cuts Tron fees |
| Exodus | Desktop, phone | You | Multi-asset (unverified) | Works with Trezor |
| Phantom | Phone, extension | You | Solana-first | Visa card unconfirmed |
| Ledger | Hardware | You | Depends on app | No verified local reseller |
| Trezor | Hardware | You | BTC-only versions exist | None listed for Georgia |
| Tangem | NFC card or ring | You | 90+ chains | Duties extra on delivery |
Which networks matter in Georgia
A wallet that “supports USDT” isn’t enough. USDT exists on many blockchains, and sending it on the wrong one is the most common and most expensive beginner mistake. Here is what local services actually use.
USDT on TRC-20 for P2P, OTC and property
TRC-20TRC-20USDT issued on the Tron network. Cheap and fast transfers, which is why most OTC and property deals in Georgia quote TRC-20. (USDT on Tron) is the network almost everyone in Georgia quotes: Cryptomat ATMs sell USDT on TRC-20 and ERC-20ERC-20Tokens on the Ethereum network. Widely supported but network fees can be several dollars per transfer.; Cryptal accepts TRC-20, ERC-20, BEP-20 and Solana; P2P traders and the Russian- and Ukrainian-speaking OTC desks that serve Tbilisi and Batumi property sales have historically quoted “USDT TRC-20”. That last point is our reading of the market, not a published statistic. Our guides to OTC desks and real estate with crypto explain how those deals work legally.
One practical catch: a Tron address has no free “energy”, so a USDT transfer burns TRX for fees. Keep a small TRX balance in the same wallet, or your USDT will be stuck. Keeper’s Battery feature is an alternative.
Bitcoin for ATMs
Cryptomat’s roughly 148 machines in Georgia sell BTC, LTC, ETH, BCH and USDT. Only one machine, at West Point in Kutaisi, also buys crypto back for cash. To use one, you need a wallet that can show a Bitcoin receiving address as a QR code — any wallet above does. Machines don’t advertise Lightning, so use an ordinary on-chain Bitcoin address. Our crypto ATM guide has the map and fees, and the Bitcoin page covers other ways to buy.
Gram, Solana and the rest
If you use Telegram’s ecosystem, you’ll want a wallet that handles TON (Gram) — Keeper or Walt. For Solana tokens, Phantom. For Pi, only the official Pi Wallet in the Pi Browser; Pi Network warns never to enter its passphrase anywhere else. See Pi Coin in Georgia.
Buying a hardware wallet in Georgia
This is where Georgia differs from most of Europe. We could not find a verified authorised reseller for any major hardware wallet in the country:
- Trezor’s official reseller page lists no reseller for Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan or Turkey.
- Ledger’s reseller and shipping pages did not load for us, so a Georgian authorised reseller is unconfirmed, even though Ledger says it is sold in 700+ stores worldwide.
- Tangem sells directly from tangem.com and runs a reseller programme; we found no confirmed Georgian partner.
So the safe route is to order from the official stores — shop.ledger.com, trezor.io/store or tangem.com — and have it shipped to Georgia.
Wallet ready and need something to put in it?Card purchases settle in USD or EUR; withdraw to your own address afterwards.
Buy BitcoinSeed phrase rules you should never break
Your seed phrase — usually 12 or 24 words — is the wallet. Whoever has the words has the coins, on any device, anywhere in the world. These are the rules, and the order to follow when you set up a new wallet:
Install from the official source only
Type the official website yourself or open the developer’s page in the App Store or Google Play. Fake wallet apps with near-identical names are common, and so are paid search ads pointing to them.
Write the words on paper, offline
Write the seed phrase by hand, in order, and check it twice. Never photograph it, never save it in Notes, Google Drive, iCloud or a Telegram “Saved Messages” chat.
Store it where fire, water and visitors can't reach it
Keep it somewhere safe at home, and consider a second copy in a different place. Metal backup plates survive fire and floods better than paper.
Test before you trust it
Send a small amount, then practise restoring the wallet from the words on a spare device or the same app. Only then move larger sums.
Never type it anywhere else
No exchange, bank, wallet support desk or “recovery service” will ever need your seed phrase. Anyone who asks for it — by phone, Telegram or a pop-up — is stealing.
Fake support agents in Telegram groups and “wallet validation” sites are a common way people lose their coins. Our crypto scams guide lists the patterns, including the fake “Pi buyers” who ask for passphrases.
Planning for your family
A non-custodial wallet has no “forgot password” button for your heirs either. If something happens to you and nobody knows the wallet exists, or where the seed phrase is, the coins are lost for good.
A simple approach: write a short letter for a trusted person that says which wallets you have, which coins and networks, and where the seed phrase or hardware device is kept — but not the words themselves. Keep the letter separate from the seed phrase, so finding one doesn’t mean finding both. Tangem’s multi-card setup makes this easier, since a backup card can be kept elsewhere. For larger holdings, ask a Georgian notary or lawyer how to reference digital assets in a will without exposing the keys; we have not found official guidance on this.
Where to go next
If you still need to buy your first coins, our guide on how to buy crypto in Georgia compares ATMs, exchanges, P2P and cards. For a platform the National Bank of Georgia supervises, see the NBG-registered exchanges. And for USDT specifically, the USDT guide covers networks, prices in lari and where to buy.
