The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) may have narrowly avoided a deeper institutional crisis after board member Nana Keinishvili announced her resignation on 17 October. Her statement came after an investigation had raised the possibilities of Keinishvili’s impeachment and possible lifting of her immunity by parliament — both of which would have been extraordinary developments for the country’s central bank.
Keinishvili had already been suspended from her position when she resigned. The Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation on 9 October following a referral from the National Bank.
In a statement published on Facebook on October 17, Keinishvili said that she resigned 'in order not to harm the interests of the state and the reputation of the National Bank'.
BitExchange, one of Georgia's largest crypto firms told OC Media that they submitted evidence, including a clandestine audio recording that they made during an interview with Keinishvili, which launched the investigation. The Prosecutor General’s Office confirmed in a statement on 9 October that the investigation was launched ‘based on the statements of the executives of BitExchange sent by the National Bank’.
‘According to the statements submitted to the National Bank of Georgia by the executives of Bitexchange LLC and the audio recordings attached to them, Nana Keinishvili, a member of the National Bank's Board, is involved in entrepreneurial activities and directly controls a network of enterprises regulated by the National Bank, the shares of which are registered in the names of her family members and persons affiliated with her.
'According to the same statements, Nana Keinishvili also attempted to acquire shares in an enterprise regulated by the National Bank and thereby expand her own business activities.’
OC Media has contacted Keinishvili for comment.
Roman Gotsiridze, who served as president of the National Bank from 2005 to 2007, suggested that the case could now be contained rather than fully pursued. 'The investigation is being handled by the Prosecutor’s Office,' he told OC Media.
He predicted that 'they will say that an administrative penalty was imposed — in other words, dismissal. But she left of her own accord.'
'In the worst-case scenario, there could be a plea bargain.'
'No one knows what the Prosecutor’s Office will do. It is impossible to predict.'
According to the Law on Combating Corruption, public servants are prohibited from engaging in entrepreneurial activity. Additional legislation bars National Bank board members or their families from being partners in certain entities in the financial sector or related legal entities.
Gotsiridze claimed that Keinishvili is a ‘scapegoat’ because, according to him, even members of parliament are prohibited from engaging in business activities, but there have been numerous cases of such without such serious retaliation.
'In short, they have killed the case so that it does not attract any more attention.'
It is not the first problem that the NBG has faced in recent years.
Natia Turnava, Georgia’s first woman to lead the country’s central bank, found herself at the center of a controversy in 2023 amid growing concerns about threats to the regulator’s independence and the domestic enforcement of international sanctions, following the unfreezing of the local assets of former Prosecutor General Otar Partskhaladze, who had been sanctioned by the United States amid a wave of Russia-related restrictions.
OC MediaTata Shoshiashvili
Keinishvili had not responded to the allegations before announcing that she was resigning on 17 October, while BitExchange, which is at the centre of the case, told OC Media that 'if this is where it ends and no charges are brought, it’ll be a catastrophe'.
OC Media spoke to company founders Nino Kopilashvili, director of BitExchange, and her partner, David Orjonikidze, whose material led to the start of the investigation.
They left the country due to what they describe as 'safety concerns' after receiving what they say was unfair treatment compared with their main competitor, CryptoMat: a similar service with business links to Giorgi Bachiashvili, an ally-turned-critic of Georgia’s ruling party founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili. CryptoMat has continously denied that they received special treatment.
The company told OC Media that it was 'not surprised' by BitExchange’s allegations and confirmed that the National Bank of Georgia was also inspecting their company.
'In our view, these statements are consistent with a longstanding pattern of conduct. For years, we have raised concerns about what we consider unfair competition and unethical business practices, bringing specific cases to the attention of the National Bank of Georgia and initiating legal proceedings over these matters.' George Bachiashvili was not available for comment.
RFE/RL published an investigation earlier in October that claimed Keinishvili demanded a stake in BitExchange in return for regulatory protection and assistance in expanding its business. BitExchange confirmed that they made these claims to OC Media.
After BitExchange refused the offer, the National Bank imposed a ₾572 million ($220 million) fine on the company. They cited violations of anti-money-laundering and counterterrorism-financing regulations.
In light of the investigation into Keinishvili, BitExchange are now calling for the fine to be annulled, adding that the National Bank’s Board, as the highest governing body, and her non-executive status neither diminished the influence inherent in her position nor precluded the possibility of collusion with other serving Board members.
The bank has completely refuted these claims, claiming that BitExchange acted alone – which the company described as ‘premature’ and raised concerns about a possible attempt to shield others from scrutiny.
In a statement on October 10, the NBG said: ‘As for the fine imposed by the National Bank on the virtual asset service provider BitExchange LLC, the aforementioned inspection was carried out as planned in February 2026. Accordingly, the statement of the representative of BitExchange LLC that the fine is related to the information provided by it to the NBG is unfounded and serves to intentionally mislead the public.’
Part of the investigation evidence came after Keinishvili held a meeting with the company’s founders, during which BitExchange made a clandestine recording which they later handed to the security services, the company told OC Media.
'Her resignation letter leaves unanswered questions,' Kopilashvili said. Her business partner and her do not believe that she acted alone, ‘what is happening now is a deliberate strategy to reframe a criminal investigation as a narrow conflict-of-interest matter, she said. It is not the first time Keinishvili has faced accusations of corruption.
Keinishvili previously served as president of the Georgian Red Cross Society from 2001 to 2012, before joining the ruling Georgian Dream party as an MP. At the time, political opponents accused her of turning the Red Cross Society into her own private company. There was no official investigation into her conduct. Her daughter later took over her post. In 2016, she founded her own party, Our People.
Besik Donadze, a corruption researcher and founder of the Public Procurement Monitoring Centre, told OC Media that allegations of undisclosed business interests within the National Bank of Georgia’s governing board were particularly serious, given the bank’s role in regulating the cryptocurrency sector. He said the existence of a video recording and the parties’ apparent confirmation that the conversation took place raised further questions about potential conflicts of interest and corruption that warranted a thorough investigation.
Another expert, Georgian economist Paata Bairakhtari, also told OC Media that the situation with Nana Keinishvili had already damaged the NBG’s reputation.
'Such an example, as this, of someone covering for investors, will never be a good signal for anyone willing to invest in the future, as this case shows,' he said.
When asked by OC Media why BitExchange appealed to the State Security Service’s Anti-Corruption Department rather than the police or the relevant financial entities, Kopilashvili said, 'It’s because we considered this a matter of national security, not merely a commercial dispute'.