How to buy crypto in Georgia with lari, step by step

If you’re working out how to buy crypto in Georgia, it comes down to three decisions. How you pay: a Georgian bank card, a transfer, a payment app or cash in lari. Who you buy from: your bank, a local exchange registered with the National Bank, a global platform or another person. And where the coins end up: left on the platform, or moved to a wallet only you control. Get those three right and the purchase itself takes a few minutes.

This guide covers how to buy cryptocurrency in Georgia from start to finish: each route with the fees and documents that apply locally, how to check a provider is legal, what verification looks like, your first purchase, and the withdrawal that trips up most beginners. If speed is all you care about, our ranking of the quickest routes is shorter. If you already know you’ll pay by card, the card buying guide goes deeper on fees and declines.

Where to buy crypto in Georgia: five routes

Most people in Tbilisi or Batumi end up using one of five routes. They differ less in what you can buy than in what you pay, how much paperwork comes first and how much you have to trust the other side.

The ATM and P2P figures are indicative: the ATM range comes from a local guide rather than the operator, and the P2P premium from a single test purchase. The bank and exchange figures come from the providers’ own announcements and fee pages.

In your bank app: TBC

In May 2026 TBC Bank added crypto trading to its mobile bank: about 30 assets, purchases from $1, no separate registration, and no commission during the initial launch phase. Liquidity and execution come from Bybit Georgia, which is on the NBG register as VASP 0019-9404. For an existing TBC customer this is the least friction you’ll find, because the bank already knows who you are.

Two things we couldn’t confirm, because TBC’s crypto page didn’t load when we checked: what the fees are after the launch phase, and whether you can send coins out to an external wallet. If you plan to move coins to your own wallet, check the withdrawal option inside the app before you buy. Bank of Georgia, Liberty and Credo had no comparable in-app product we could find. Our page on banks and crypto in Georgia tracks what each bank allows, and the crypto apps overview compares the TBC app with exchange apps.

At an NBG-registered local exchange

Local exchanges are companies registered with the National Bank of Georgia as virtual asset service providersVASPVirtual Asset Service Provider — a crypto exchange, ATM operator or custodian. In Georgia every VASP must be registered with the National Bank (NBG).. Cryptal (registration 0002-9404) is the clearest example, because it publishes its deposit fees. Topping up with a Bank of Georgia, TBC or other Georgian card, or with Apple Pay or Google Pay, costs 2%. A card listed as Mere Card costs 2.5%, and an international card paying in USD or EUR also costs 2.5%. BOG Pay, TBC Pay and ordinary bank transfers are free, Liberty Bank costs a flat 0.5 GEL equivalent, PayBox terminals 1%, and cash via CPAY or CreditService+ 0.2%.

Cryptal also offers an instant buy in lari and a “buy without registration” option, and lists 31 assets, including USDT on several networks. Its fee page doesn’t show withdrawal fees, trading fees or verification tiers, so check those in the app. Our Cryptal review goes through the details. If you’d rather pay cash at one of PayBox’s 8,000+ terminals, PayBox works with five registered exchanges (Cryptal, Coinmania, WhiteBIT, CityPay and Bitanica), which is covered in buying crypto with cash.

On a global exchange

Only two of the big international brands hold Georgian registration: Bybit Georgia (0019-9404) and WhiteBIT Georgia (0007-9404). WhiteBIT is the only one we found with direct lari bank rails: GEL deposits and withdrawals through TBC Bank and Hashbank with no fixed fee, according to its public API. Binance, OKX, KuCoin and CEX.IO aren’t on the register. That doesn’t automatically make them unavailable to Georgian residents. It means they are not Georgian-registered providers.

CEX.IO is a card route rather than a lari route. It has operated since 2013, holds US state money-transmitter licences (NMLS 1804170) and a UK FCA cryptoasset registration (FRN 1007192), and takes Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay and Google Pay. There’s no GEL balance and no P2P marketplace, and the card minimum is 20 USD, EUR or GBP, so your bank converts from lari. The exchange comparison puts the eight large platforms side by side.

P2P in lari

On a P2PP2PPeer-to-peer: you buy crypto from another person and pay them directly (e.g. by TBC or Bank of Georgia transfer) while the platform holds their coins in escrow. marketplace you buy USDT from another person and pay them by bank transfer, while the exchange holds the seller’s coins in escrowEscrowThe platform locks the seller's coins until the seller confirms your payment arrived, so neither side can simply walk away with the money.. Binance has the deepest lari market, with Bank of Georgia, TBC, Liberty, Credo, BasisBank and others as payment methods. Bybit and OKX also have active GEL books. In one published test, a 500 GEL purchase paid from TBC was released in about four minutes at roughly 0.5% above the NBG dollar rate, and an OKX purchase paid from Bank of Georgia took nine minutes.

P2P is cheap but carries the most counterparty risk. Fake payment receipts, payment reversals and transfers from third parties can lead to your bank asking questions or freezing your account. The P2P guide covers seller selection and the rules that keep you safe.

Crypto ATMs and cash

Cryptomat runs the largest network, with roughly 150 locations across seven cities: Tbilisi, Batumi, Kutaisi, Rustavi, Gori, Telavi and Zugdidi. The machines sell BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH and USDT on ERC-20 and TRC-20. Cryptomat doesn’t publish fees or limits; a local guide puts the cost at 6–12% including the spreadSpreadThe gap between the buy and sell price. A desk that buys USDT at 2.57 GEL and sells at 2.62 GEL earns a 0.05 GEL spread on each coin., with phone-number verification only up to roughly 1,000–2,000 GEL. It’s convenient for cash and small sums and expensive for anything larger. The crypto ATM guide lists machines and the ones that also buy crypto back, and exchange offices are covered under OTC and cash desks.

Check that the provider is legal

Since 1 July 2023, companies that exchange, transfer or hold crypto for customers in Georgia must be registered with the National Bank of GeorgiaNBGNational Bank of Georgia — the central bank. It supervises banks and, since 2023, crypto service providers (VASPs).. The register version dated 23.10.2026 lists 43 active providers, from Mycoins (0001-9404) to YXXY (0044-9404), and one cancelled registration. On 7 October 2025 the NBG publicly urged people not to deal with unregistered providers.

Checking takes a minute. Search the company’s legal or commercial name in the NBG register or in our searchable list of licensed exchanges. Registered providers are also required to display their NBG registration confirmation in their office, kiosk, website and app, so a missing number is a warning sign. For foreign platforms, check that Georgia isn’t on their restricted-countries list and remember that Georgian supervision doesn’t cover them. The bigger legal picture is in is crypto legal in Georgia.

Verification: what you’ll be asked for

Verification, or KYCKYCKnow Your Customer: identity checks (passport, selfie, sometimes proof of address) that licensed services must run before you trade., isn’t optional bureaucracy invented by one exchange. Under Georgian AML rules, registered providers must check customers when a business relationship starts, and for any single crypto transaction above roughly USD 1,000, EUR 1,000 or GEL 3,000. In practice almost every account-based route asks for ID from the first purchase.

At a local exchange or exchange office, expect a passport or Georgian ID card, a selfie and a short questionnaire about the purpose of your account. A first visit to a Tbilisi or Batumi exchange office takes about five minutes, according to one local guide. Global platforms ask for more. CEX.IO checks your identity, then proof of address, then the payment card itself, with a selfie holding the card. New CEX.IO accounts are capped at $1,000 a day and $3,000 a month for the first three months after ID verification. MoonPay asks for ID, a selfie and proof of address less than three months old.

For larger amounts, expect source-of-fundsSource of fundsDocuments showing where money came from (salary, sale of property, exchange statements). Georgian banks may ask for them on large crypto-related transfers. questions: a salary statement, a property sale contract or an exchange history. There’s no official threshold for this. One Tbilisi service cites USD 50,000, but treat that as one company’s practice.

How foreigners can buy cryptocurrency in Georgia

Foreigners can buy through every route except, usually, the bank app. Local exchanges and exchange offices verify you with your passport. Global platforms accept passports too, but proof of address is the usual snag: a utility bill or bank statement in your name works, and a payslip usually doesn’t. Opening a TBC account first is possible but slower than simply using a registered exchange. Tax residency, the 183-day question and banking for newcomers are covered in our guide to crypto for expats in Georgia.

Buying crypto in Georgia as a beginner: a 1,000 GEL example

Percentages are hard to compare in your head, so here is the same first purchase run through each route: 1,000 GEL that you want to turn into USDT or bitcoin. The figures are the deposit and service costs that providers or published tests state. None of them includes the network feeNetwork feeThe fee paid to the blockchain itself to process a transfer (also called gas). It goes to miners/validators, not to the exchange. for moving coins to your own wallet afterwards, and where an exchange doesn’t publish its trading fee or spread, that comes on top.

Three things jump out. On the same 1,000 GEL, the gap between a free BOG Pay top-up and a machine can reach 120 GEL. That’s the real argument for spending ten minutes on verification instead of walking to the nearest ATM. Machines still make sense for cash and for a tiny first try; they just get expensive as the amount grows.

A card is the quick option, not the free one. At a registered exchange the 2% is printed on the fee page. On a global platform such as CEX.IO, the card is charged in USD, EUR or GBP, so your bank converts the lari first at its own rate, and the service commission is built into the price you’re quoted. 1,000 GEL clears the 20-unit card minimum easily and sits inside the 1,000 USD daily cap on new CEX.IO accounts, so the limit won’t hurt; the conversion might. The card buying guide shows how to estimate it.

Verification doesn’t change much at this size. A single 1,000 GEL purchase is below the GEL 3,000 line for one-off transaction checks, but account-based routes verify you when you open the account, so you’ll show a passport or ID anyway. Only at machines does the amount change the paperwork: a local guide says a phone number is enough up to roughly 1,000–2,000 GEL.

Put together, for a beginner with 1,000 GEL and no TBC account, the lowest published cost in this example looks like this: verify once at a registered exchange, top up through BOG Pay or TBC Pay, buy, then send a small test to your own wallet before the rest. If you bank with TBC, compare the app’s final amount against that. And if words like USDT, network and wallet still feel fuzzy, read our plain-language explainer on what cryptocurrency is first.

Your first purchase, step by step

The steps below work for any account-based route. The menus differ between the TBC app, Cryptal and a global platform, but the order doesn’t.

Moving coins to your own wallet, on the right network

Coins left on an exchange are custodialCustodialSomeone else (an exchange, a bank app) holds the keys for you. Easy to use, but you depend on that company.: the platform holds the keys. That’s fine for small amounts you’re about to trade. For savings, move them to a wallet where you hold 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., either a phone app or 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.. Our wallet guide covers which ones work well here and where to buy hardware devices safely.

The step where money actually gets lost is network choice. The same USDT exists on several blockchains, and sending on a network your wallet or exchange doesn’t support can make the funds very hard to recover.

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 dominates local P2P and cash desks, but a Tron transfer burns TRX or uses Energy, so a wallet holding only USDT can’t move it. Keep a few TRX alongside. On ERC-20ERC-20Tokens on the Ethereum network. Widely supported but network fees can be several dollars per transfer. the network feeNetwork feeThe fee paid to the blockchain itself to process a transfer (also called gas). It goes to miners/validators, not to the exchange. rises with congestion. Our USDT page explains the networks in more detail.

Mistakes that cost people money here

Paying a P2P seller from someone else’s account, or accepting money from a stranger’s account. Third-party payments are the classic trigger for bank freezes and payment reversals. Pay only from an account in your own name, and only to the name shown in the order.

Using an ATM for amounts where a card top-up would do. At 6–12%, a 1,000 GEL ATM purchase can cost 60–120 GEL. The same money through BOG Pay or TBC Pay at a registered exchange costs nothing to deposit.

Trusting a quote instead of the final amount. Card fees, spreads and currency conversion stack up. Compare how many coins you actually receive.

Choosing the wrong network, or sending USDT to a wallet with no TRX for the next transfer.

Leaving everything on an exchange. Keep spending money there if you like; move savings to a wallet you control.

Planning to pay a seller in crypto. Crypto isn’t legal tender in Georgia, and Georgian businesses may not accept it as payment for goods or services. To buy an apartment or a car, you convert at a registered provider and pay in lari or dollars. Our guide to real estate and crypto shows the compliant route, and the scams guide covers the frauds aimed at new buyers.

After you buy: records, tax and selling later

For individuals, income from selling crypto is not treated as Georgian-source income, so it carries 0% personal income tax under Ministry of Finance Public Decision No. 201 of 28 June 2019. There are caveats: crypto paid as salary is taxed, trading as a business is a different question, and your home country may still tax you. The crypto tax guide goes through them.

When the time comes to turn coins back into lari, the same routes run in reverse: P2P, exchange withdrawals to a bank, exchange offices and a handful of ATMs. Costs and bank questions differ, so read how to cash out crypto in Georgia before your first sale. For the wider picture of crypto in the country, start at the cryptogeorgia.guide home page.