Cryptal review: a Georgian exchange that prices crypto in lari

Most crypto platforms Georgians use price everything in dollars or USDT and leave you to solve the lari problem yourself. Cryptal does the opposite: it is a local, NBG-registered exchange built around GEL deposits from Georgian banks and payment terminals. That makes it one of the few places where a Bank of Georgia or TBC customer can go from lari to Bitcoin or Dogecoin without a P2P counterparty and without a foreign-currency card charge.

This review goes through what Cryptal publishes — and, just as importantly, what it doesn’t. If you’re still choosing between local and global platforms, our comparison of crypto exchanges in Georgia is the better starting point.

Cryptal at a glance

Cryptal is run by Digital Ledger Technologies LLC (company ID 431178218), with its head office at Murman Lebanidze Street 19 in Tbilisi and one further branch listed on the NBG register. Its registration on the NBG register is one of the broadest in the country: crypto-to-fiat and crypto-to-crypto exchange, transfers, custody, administration of a trading platform and ICO-related services.

The product line, as Cryptal describes it: buying with a card, a “buy without registration” option, instant GEL purchases, spot trading, selling to a card or bank account, and a mobile app. It is also one of five exchanges you can top up at PayBox terminals, alongside Coinmania, WhiteBIT, CityPay and Bitanica.

Every published deposit fee

Cryptal’s fee page lists deposit costs per method and currency. It shows no date, and the footer reads ”© Cryptal 2024”, so check it again before a large top-up.

What that means in lari: topping up 1,000 GEL costs nothing via TBC Pay, BOG Pay or a bank transfer, 2 GEL in cash via CPAY, 10 GEL at a PayBox terminal, 20 GEL with a Bank of Georgia or TBC card and 25 GEL with a Mere Card. Liberty Bank customers pay a flat 0.5 TOGEL — half a lari — whatever the amount. Crypto deposits are free on every network the exchange supports.

Which top-up fits which situation

The table hides a simple decision tree. If your salary lands at TBC or Bank of Georgia, use the bank’s own payment service (TBC Pay or BOG Pay) and pay nothing. If you only have cash, a CPAY or CreditService+ point is the cheapest option at 0.2%, while a PayBox terminal — there are more than 8,000 of them across the country — costs 1% but is usually closer. Cards make sense mainly for small, urgent purchases or for Apple Pay and Google Pay users who don’t want to leave the app. And if you hold dollars or euros rather than lari, a plain bank transfer in USD or EUR is free, whereas an international card costs 2.5%. Our guide to buying crypto with cash compares the terminal networks in more detail.

What we couldn’t find: trading, withdrawal and KYC terms

The fee page covers deposits only. We could not find published figures for:

• Trading fees — whether Cryptal charges maker/takerMaker / taker feeMakers place orders that wait in the book; takers fill existing orders instantly. Takers usually pay slightly more. fees on spot trades or builds a margin into its instant-buy rate
• Withdrawal fees — for crypto to an external wallet or for GEL back to a bank account or card
• KYCKYCKnow Your Customer: identity checks (passport, selfie, sometimes proof of address) that licensed services must run before you trade. tiers and limits — including how far “buy without registration” goes

That last one has a legal frame. Under Georgian AML rules, as summarised by Andersen, a registered provider must identify a customer when establishing a business relationship and for any single virtual-asset transaction above USD 1,000 or GEL 3,000. So expect “no registration” to mean small, one-off purchases, and expect ID checks — and possibly 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 — for anything regular or large. Ask support (10:00–24:00) for the current numbers before you rely on them.

How TOGEL, TOUSD and TOEUR work

Cryptal handles fiat through its own tokens: TOGEL for lari, TOUSD for dollars and TOEUR for euros, each redeemable 1:1. When you top up 500 GEL, your balance shows 500 TOGEL (minus any deposit fee), which you then swap for crypto or withdraw back to lari.

In everyday use this is invisible — 1 TOGEL is 1 lari. The thing to understand is what it isn’t: a TOGEL balance is a claim on Cryptal, a custodialCustodialSomeone else (an exchange, a bank app) holds the keys for you. Easy to use, but you depend on that company. balance, not money sitting in your own bank account. That’s normal for exchanges, and it’s one reason Cryptal’s NBG registration matters. It’s also a reason not to park savings there longer than you need to.

Coins and networks

Cryptal’s fee page lists 31 assets. Among those we checked:

• Majors: Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash
• Altcoins Georgian ATMs don’t sell: Dogecoin, Solana, XRP, TRX
• Gram — listed as “Gram (ex-Ton)”, the renamed Toncoin
• Stablecoins: USDT on Solana, ERC-20, TRC-20 and BEP-20 (no TON network); USDC on Solana, ERC-20 and BEP-20

Pi coin is not listed, and no network for Bitcoin LightningLightning NetworkA layer on top of Bitcoin for near-instant, very cheap payments. Useful for small amounts, not for buying property. is mentioned. For coin-specific routes see our pages on Dogecoin, XRP and USDT. TRX is worth noting: you need a little of it to pay gas when you move USDT on Tron from a self-custody wallet.

The EU licence claim and the Cryptomat connection

Cryptal describes itself as a “licensed crypto exchange and wallet” and says it is licensed in Georgia and in the EU, including authorisation by Lithuania’s FCIS. The Georgian part is confirmed by the NBG register. The EU part we could not verify against the FCIS register. Context matters here: Lithuania’s national VASP regime has been replaced by EU MiCA licensing, with a transitional period that ran to 31 July 2025 for firms that had applied, according to a law-firm summary. A Lithuanian registration from before that date is not the same as a MiCA licence, so for a Georgian user the NBG registration is the one that counts.

The Cryptomat ATM network links to Cryptal from its website, both companies list the same Murman Lebanidze Street head office, and their company IDs are close together (431178209 and 431178218). They are registered separately with the NBG — Cryptomat as 0005-9404, Cryptal as 0002-9404 — and we couldn’t confirm the corporate relationship from a primary source.

Cryptal versus the alternatives

Against Cryptomat’s ATMs, Cryptal is several times cheaper on the way in for anyone with a Georgian bank account, and it offers far more coins. Against the TBC app, it’s an option for Bank of Georgia, Liberty and Mere customers too, and it supports external crypto deposits on four USDT networks. Against global exchanges — CEX.IO, for example, which has operated since 2013, holds US money-transmitter licences (NMLS 1804170) and UK FCA registration (FRN 1007192), and accepts Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay and Google Pay — Cryptal wins on lari pricing, while global platforms generally offer more assets and deeper order books. CEX.IO has no GEL wallet and isn’t on the NBG register.

Who Cryptal suits

A good fit if you have a Georgian bank account and want to buy crypto in lari at a known deposit cost, if you want coins the ATMs don’t carry (DOGE, SOL, XRP, Gram), or if you prefer a provider you can find on the NBG register with an office in Tbilisi. It’s also a sensible step up for anyone who started at a Cryptomat and wants to stop paying ATM margins.

Less ideal if you trade actively and need to know your maker/taker costs in advance, if you want a deep order book, or if you need clarity on withdrawal fees and limits before you sign up — none of that is on the public fee page. For selling crypto back to lari, compare Cryptal’s sell-to-card option with the routes in our cash-out guide, and for paying in notes see our guide to buying crypto with cash.

Whatever you choose, move long-term holdings off the exchange into a wallet you control — our wallet guide explains how.