Cryptocurrency Certification Consortium – Professional & Expert Guide?

In a new industry like cryptocurrency, there are always going to be efforts to certify cryptocurrency professionals. Cryptocurrency Certification Consortium is one such initiative. Here’s our review.

What Is Cryptocurrency Certification Consortium?

The Cryptocurrency Certification Consortium is one of two major organizations seeking to identify and certify cryptocurrency experts. One, called the Digital Currency Council, is based in New York, while the other, called the Cryptocurrency Certification Consortium, is based in Toronto.

For brevity’s sake, the organization refers to itself simply as “C4”.

Obviously, the cryptocurrency industry needs verification organizations. Every industry has them. As bitcoin and cryptocurrency becomes more prominent, and more services accept bitcoin payments, corporations are seeking bitcoin experts.

How do you separate genuine cryptocurrency experts from someone who’s just read a few cryptocurrency blogs? Verification organizations can help.

With that in mind, the Cryptocurrency Certification Consortium offers two certification tests: one for professionals and another, higher level test, for experts. The non-profit organization is also developing a standardized security standard that can be implemented across the bitcoin industry.

One of the big advantages C4 has over its competition is that it has Vitalik Buterin, creator of Ethereum, on its Board of Directors, along with Ethereum’s Anthony Di Iorio.

Let’s take a closer look at how C4 plans to be the industry’s number one certification organization.

Cryptocurrency Certification Consortium Exams

C4 offers two different certification programs. One is for Certified Bitcoin Professionals while the other is for Certified Bitcoin Experts.

Each test judges applicants in six areas. After passing the test, your certification is good for 2 to 3 years, after which you can pay to renew it.

Test For Certified Bitcoin Professionals (CBP)

This is a lower-level test designed to assess basic to intermediary competency in bitcoin. It’s designed to prove that the individual is knowledgeable about the bitcoin blockchain, bitcoin transactions, and how the bitcoin network operates. CBPs are also able to apply bitcoin technology to their professional areas of expertise while understanding privacy aspects, double-spending, and other issues related to the currency.

Topics covered include:

• The history of ledger-based economics
• Basics of cryptography
• Bitcoin basics
• Mining
• Wallets, clients, and key management
• Bitcoin commerce

Test For Certified Bitcoin Experts (CBX)

This test goes into greater depth to test the individual’s knowledge in terms of professional applications of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. A certified bitcoin expert (CBX) shares all of the knowledge as his or her CBP peers, but with much greater dept. They possess expert-level knowledge about the bitcoin protocol and network, and have demonstrated an ability to create applications integrated on the bitcoin network.

CBX professionals also understand how peers communicate on the bitcoin network, how transactions are crafted at the byte level, and how to write bitcoin scripts to customize the behavior of transactions.

Topics include:

• Advanced cryptography
• Bitcoin Core
• Bitcoin API
• Advanced blockchain details
• Economic aspects of bitcoin
• Security

Overall, the goal of both certification programs is to help startups and companies evaluate the knowledge, skills, and experience of job applicants.

What To Expect During The Exam

Various bitcoin professionals have already taken the exam. Peter Todd, a Bitcoin Core developer, took the professional level exam (the CBP) and had a positive overall experience:

“I thought it was a very reasonable test of Bitcoin knowledge appropriate for the level of a Bitcoin Professional. I’m looking forward to the more in-depth Bitcoin Expert certification. The knowledge is so new that until now we didn't have any way to measure it and that has created questions and doubts regarding security.”

Obviously, as a Bitcoin Core developer, Peter would be more suited to the Bitcoin Expert test. He wrote the Bitcoin Professional test. The Expert test should be released in the near future.

Cryptocurrency Certification Consortium Pricing

Here’s how pricing breaks down for the Professional test, which is the only test available so far:

• Exam Fee: $50 USD
• Exam Application Fee: $25

If you pass the professional exam (the CBP exam), you’re certified as a professional for two years. After that, you’ll pay a $25 renewal fee to keep your certifications up to date.

Details have not yet been released for the CBX exam, although the website notes that certifications for the higher level exam will be good for three years.

About Cryptocurrency Certification Consortium

C4 is a non-profit organization based in Toronto. The goal of the organization is to provide certifications to professionals who perform cryptocurrency-related services.

So far, C4 has introduced two separate certification levels: one for bitcoin professionals and the other for bitcoin experts.

The Cryptocurrency Certification Consortium was founded in 2014.

C4’s Board of Directors includes Anthony Di Iorio and Vitalik Buterin, both of Ethereum (and other projects). Other directors include Joshua McDougall and Michael Perklin of Bioconsultants Inc. and Russel Verbeeten from CryptAcademy.

The Cryptocurrency Security Standard (CCSS)

In addition to the two certification tests, the Cryptocurrency Certification Consortium is creating a security standard called the Cryptocurrency Security Standard, or CCSS. That standard aims to standardize the security techniques and methodologies used by cryptocurrency systems around the world.

Cryptocurrency Certification Consortium Conclusion

The Cryptocurrency Certification Consortium, also known as C4, is one of two certification organizations currently available to bitcoin professionals. The company charges $50 for a test that certifies you as a bitcoin professional. If you pass that test, then you will be certified as a CBP. A higher level test for bitcoin experts, called the CBX, will also be available in the future.

Cryptocurrency Certification Consortium is based in Toronto. The non-profit organization’s board of directors include Anthony Di Iorio and Vitalik Buterin of Ethereum, among other professionals.

You can learn more about the Cryptocurrency Certification Consortium by visiting the organization online today at CryptoConsotium.org.