How to Buy Cryptocurrency in Georgia
Buying cryptocurrency in Georgia
Like so many other banks, the National Bank of Georgia announced that cryptocurrencies aren’t legal tender, and, therefore, aren’t regulated by law in December 2014. The Bank even advised citizens of Georgia to exercise caution when dealing and trading with cryptocurrencies. In spite of that, Georgia quickly became a hotbed for cryptocurrency mining, with people spending their investments or taking out loans in order to purchase their very own mining setups in hopes of getting rich. Due to low regulation and its cheap hydropower, Georgia was ranked the second country in the world for cryptocurrency mining, first being China. Bitfury, a U.S.-based technology firm, could account for much of this mining activity, from its vast data center equipped with computer serves located on the outskirts of the country’s capital, Tbilisi. Expectedly, it has brought about lots of controversy over declarations that it collected excessively generous terms for its electricity bills.
As of 20/03/2021
Exchanges Info
These exchanges all accept customers from Georgia. While they broadly offer the same services and you can buy cryptocurrency at all of them, there can be differences in transaction fees, security, verification requirements, deposit methods and features, as shown below
eToro
An Israeli fintech startup well known as a social trading broker, eToro has now over 10 million users worldwide. If you want to trade CFDs of most popular stocks, gold, shares or commodities as well as some crypto eToro is an interesting choice.
Fully regulated financial institution
- Free stock and ETF trading
- Ability to follow expert traders
Fees (spreads) are high
- Only USD as base currency
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Bitpanda
Based in Vienna, Austria Bitpanda specializes in buying & selling Bitcoins within the Eurozone. Bitpanda is suitable for both novice & pro traders with high-end security features and servers.
- Beginner-friendly with a wide variety of payment options
- It supports fiat to crypto and cash purchase
- 30+ digital assets including gold and silver.
- Supports IBAN to convert euros into digital currency.
- Fees are not stated clearly rather it is included in price.
- Not available worldwide.
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Bitfinex
Operating since 2012, Bitfinex has a huge range of coins and trading pairs, a good user interface and low trading fees.
- Very low trading fees
- Large range of coins and trading pairs
- High liquidity
- Slow account verification
- Two major hacks
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Changelly
Changelly allows you to trade cryptocurrency without registration or verifying the identity through KYC. Being a non-custodial exchange, Changelly doesn’t require you to keep any deposits. The platform also works as a fiat-to-crypto gateway.
- Non-custodial exchange
- Great way to switch altcoins
- Doesn’t require extensive KYC
- 2FA security and high exchange limit
- A high transaction fee of 0.5%
- Unclear owners
- Sometimes their service is quite slow
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Poloniex
Poloniex is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange that started its journey back in January 2014. The platform offers margin trading, spot trading and margin lending
- No verification required
- Low fees
- Margin trading and lending options
- Not regulated
- No Fiat deposits
- No US users
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OKEx
OKEx is the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world by volume. It posts over $2 billion in trades daily and has over 400 trading pairs.
- Good range of coins
- DEX trading
- No hacking history
- Not available in US
- KYC required
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Kucoin
Founded in 2017, KuCoin has already managed to establish itself as “The People’s Exchange.” With 200+ cryptocurrencies and more than 400 markets, it has become one of the hubs for cryptocurrency trading.
- Vast selection of altcoins
- Ability to stake & earn crypto yields
- Robust security features
- No forced KYC checks
- No fiat currency deposits
- Trading volume is low
Coinmama
Coinmama was formed in Slovakia in 2013. As a user, you are not allowed to exchange cryptocurrencies with other users on this platform. Instead, you will be trading cryptocurrencies with Coinmama directly which makes your transactions more secure.
- Receive coins to your wallet instantly.
- High limits for buying bitcoin
- Faster customer service
- High levels of security
- No option for trading with other users
- Higher fees
- No mobile app
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Bittrex
Bittrex is a veteran US-based cryptocurrency exchange launched in 2013. Its has Worldwide availability, comprehensive mobile app, high liquidity and low fees.
- Strong security features
- Faster transaction & withdrawals
- Compliant with US laws
- Inexpensive bank card deposits
- No leveraged margin trading
- Intrusive verification process
- Unexplained closure of account