Crypto apps in Georgia: what each one is actually good for

Ask ten people in Tbilisi which crypto app they use and you’ll get at least five answers. That’s not because one app is secretly the best. Each one solves a different problem. Some move lari in and out cheaply, some have the busiest P2P market, some take a foreign card in two minutes, and some keep your coins entirely in your own hands. Installing the wrong one for the job is how people end up paying 3% when they could pay nothing, or leaving savings on an exchange when they meant to hold them themselves.

This page is a field guide to the apps people in Georgia actually use and what each one is concretely good for. For a deeper look at self-custody wallets, see our crypto wallet guide. For exchange-by-exchange detail, see the crypto exchanges comparison.

Which app for which job

Most people end up with two apps: one to get lari in and out, and one wallet. More than that is usually clutter.

TBC mobile bank: crypto without a new account

Since May 2026, TBC’s mobile bank (listed in the App Store as “TBC Bank”, seller JSC TBC Bank) has had crypto trading built in. At launch it offered about 30 assets, purchases from $1 and no commission during the launch phase. Bybit Georgia, an NBG-registered VASPVASPVirtual Asset Service Provider — a crypto exchange, ATM operator or custodian. In Georgia every VASP must be registered with the National Bank (NBG). (0019-9404), handles liquidity and execution.

Good for: small, simple purchases straight from your lari balance, with no extra KYCKYCKnow Your Customer: identity checks (passport, selfie, sometimes proof of address) that licensed services must run before you trade. because you’re already a verified bank customer.

Not proven for: sending coins to an outside wallet or another person. We couldn’t confirm whether withdrawals are allowed, or what fees apply after the launch phase. If you need USDT on a specific network to pay someone or fund a hardware wallet, check this inside the app first. The full story, including what TBC hasn’t published, is on our banks and crypto page.

Exchange apps with Georgian registration: Bybit and WhiteBIT

Only two global exchange brands are on the NBG register: Bybit (Bybit Georgia Limited, 0019-9404) and WhiteBIT (Whitebit Georgia LLC, 0007-9404). If being able to point at a Georgian registration matters to you, for your bank or for peace of mind, start with these two.

Bybit

Bybit’s app is a full exchange plus a P2P market. Its GEL P2P lists Bank of Georgia, TBC, Credo and Liberty as payment methods. In a snapshot we took, it had 117 ads selling USDT for lari and 218 ads buying it, which makes it the busiest place we checked to sell USDT for GEL. Standard spot fees are 0.1% maker and takerMaker / taker feeMakers place orders that wait in the book; takers fill existing orders instantly. Takers usually pay slightly more..

Bybit also issues the Bybit Card for Georgian residents, a Mastercard built with Pave Bank, managed from the same app. See crypto cards in Georgia. One open question: we couldn’t confirm whether Georgian residents are onboarded to the local Bybit Georgia entity or to the global one. Our Bybit review covers the difference.

WhiteBIT

WhiteBIT’s strength is plumbing. It’s the only large exchange we found with direct lari deposits and withdrawals to Georgian banks: via TBC Bank (deposits 5–70,000 GEL, withdrawals 10–60,000) and Hashbank (deposits 1–100,000, withdrawals 10–100,000), with no fixed fee on either, according to its public fee API. It’s also one of the five exchanges you can top up with cash at PayBox terminals. Spot fees are 0.1% on its markets. USD and EUR card deposits cost 3.5%, and we found no GEL card option.

Good for: moving lari between your bank and crypto cheaply and in your own name, which keeps your bank relationship clean. See the WhiteBIT review.

Binance and OKX: the big P2P markets

Binance is not registered with the NBG, but its app has the widest choice of Georgian payment methods of any P2P market we checked. It lists nine Georgian banks and wallets: Bank of Georgia, TBC, Liberty, BasisBank, Credo, Terabank, Hashbank, Denizbank and Fastoo. Our snapshot showed 112 ads selling USDT for lari and 138 buying it. Spot fees are 0.1%, or 0.075% if you pay fees in BNB. Is it legal to use? Our Binance in Georgia review explains the registration question.

OKX is also unregistered locally. It runs a GEL P2P market with Bank of Georgia, TBC, Liberty, Credo, Cartu, BasisBank, Fastoo and Paysera listed, plus standard spot fees of 0.08% maker and 0.10% taker. Details are in the OKX review.

Good for: buying or selling USDT for lari with another person, by bank transfer. Watch out for: money from strangers landing in your bank account, which is the most common reason Georgian banks start asking questions. Read P2P crypto in Georgia before your first trade.

CEX.IO: a card-first global app

The CEX.IO app runs on iOS and Android and has more than 5 million downloads. It covers a wallet, buying and selling, converting, staking and price alerts. CEX.IO has operated since 2013, holds US money-transmitter licences (NMLS 1804170) and a UK FCA cryptoasset registration (FRN 1007192), and Georgia is not on its unsupported-countries list.

Good for: buying with Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay or Google Pay when you don’t want to deal with P2P counterparties. The minimum card purchase is 20 USD, EUR or GBP. New customers have a $1,000 daily and $3,000 monthly limit for the first three months after ID verification.

Not for: lari. CEX.IO has no GEL wallet and no P2P market, so a Georgian card is charged in a foreign currency and your bank applies its own conversion. More in our CEX.IO review.

Local apps: Cryptal, and what PayBox does and doesn’t do

Cryptal (Digital Ledger Technologies LLC, NBG 0002-9404) is a Georgian exchange with its own mobile app. It holds lari, dollars and euros as TOGEL, TOUSD and TOEUR tokens, redeemable 1:1. What makes it useful locally is the deposit menu: free bank transfers, BOG Pay and TBC Pay; 2% for Georgian cards and Apple Pay or Google Pay; 1% via PayBox; 0.2% for cash via CPAY. It also offers selling to a card or bank account, and support runs from 10:00 to midnight. It is the sister exchange linked from the Cryptomat ATM network’s website. See the Cryptal review.

PayBox deserves a clear note, because it causes confusion. PayBox says crypto can be bought at its terminals through five registered exchanges: Cryptal, Coinmania, WhiteBIT, CityPay and Bitanica. In practice the terminal tops up your exchange account with lari. We couldn’t confirm that the PayBox mobile app offers the same crypto top-ups, so don’t assume it does. The step-by-step terminal route is in our guide to buying crypto with cash.

Wallet apps: Trust Wallet, MetaMask, Walt and Keeper

Exchange apps hold your coins for you. A wallet app lets you hold them yourself, which means you’re also responsible for 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.. Our wallet guide compares them properly, including hardware wallets. Here’s the short version for app users:

• Trust Wallet: self-custodial; supports 100+ blockchains; iOS, Android and a browser extension; rated 4.7 on the App Store and 4.6 on Google Play. A common first wallet for USDT.
• MetaMask: now at metamask.com; self-custodial; lists 700+ networks including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana. Its MetaMask Card is issued by third parties, and we couldn’t confirm it’s available in Georgia.
• Walt: the wallet inside Telegram, which says it was “formerly known as Wallet in Telegram”. It’s custodialCustodialSomeone else (an exchange, a bank app) holds the keys for you. Easy to use, but you depend on that company. by default, meaning the operator holds the keys, with a separate self-custodial “DeFi Account”. The operator is TG Wallet Inc. of Panama. We couldn’t confirm whether its old P2P market still offers lari.
• Keeper: the former Tonkeeper (“Tonkeeper is now Keeper”); self-custodial; covers TON, TRON, Ethereum, Bitcoin and others. Its “Battery” feature pays network fees in the token you send, which helps if you hold USDT on 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. but no TRX for gas.

Price and rate apps

You don’t need a separate app just to watch prices. Exchange apps usually have price alerts built in; CEX.IO lists them as a core feature of its app. For anything involving lari, two things matter:

• The official GEL rate is set by the National Bank of Georgia. P2P USDT prices are usually quoted relative to it.
• The GEL ticker clash. Some aggregator “USDT to GEL” pages actually show Gelato, a token whose ticker is also GEL, and quote absurd numbers. If a rate looks wildly off, that’s probably why.

Our converter combines public CoinGecko prices with the NBG’s official lari rate, right in your browser. It’s a quick sanity check before you accept a P2P or exchange-office quote. For the full set of buying routes, see how to buy crypto in Georgia.

How to spot a fake crypto app

Fake exchange and wallet apps exist precisely because people search app stores by name. A copycat with a similar logo, a “support” chat or a seed-phrase “import” screen can empty a wallet in seconds.

More patterns we see in Georgia, from fake P2P receipts to “investment managers” on Telegram, are collected in crypto scams in Georgia.