Georgian Fund Manager Walks Free After Stealing $40M Worth of Bitcoin

Giorgi Bachiashvili, a Georgian-Russian investment manager, has been released from prison under a plea deal after admitting to embezzling nearly $40 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) from former Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili. The theft occurred in 2015 when Cartu, Ivanishvili's banking firm, loaned Bachiashvili the BTC to launch a mining operation.

Bachiashvili fled Georgia in March but was arrested at the border with Azerbaijan shortly after. He had been sentenced to 11 years in absentia, which was later increased to 15 years for illegal flight. The plea deal reduced his sentence to one year suspended, eliminating exposure for his parents who were also indicted for allegedly helping launder $3.5 million worth of Cartu's Bitcoin.

Bachiashvili agreed to cooperate with investigators and pay a $19,000 fine as part of the deal. His release comes as Georgia's cryptocurrency sector expands rapidly, with regulatory data showing that Bitcoin mining power consumption tripled in the first ten months of 2025, reaching 617 million kilowatt-hours - roughly 5% of the nation's total electricity use.