DEC Institute

The Chartered Digital Asset Analyst is meant for professionals with a background in finance, banking, asset management and trading. The Chartered Blockchain Analyst addresses people from enterprises, healthcare, public services, utilities and supply chains who apply blockchain outside the financial markets. Both charter programs test technology, business and economics as well as legal and regulatory knowledge.

Pearson VUE delivers the exams at its test centers or online through its OnVUE service, under a partnership announced in May 2023. Level 1 has 75 multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes, and Level 2 has six item sets with case vignettes and 30 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes. Candidates pass with 75 percent of the points, and each exam order includes two attempts.

A candidate may use the CDAA or CBA title after passing the exam and registering as a member of the DEC Institute. Charterholders keep the title active with continuing professional development credits, and a public directory lets employers check whether a person holds an active charter. The DEC Institute issues its certificates through Accredible and records a hash of each certificate on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Under MiCA, a crypto-asset service provider must make sure that staff who inform or advise clients have sufficient knowledge and competence. The criteria for this come from guidelines of the European Securities and Markets Authority on knowledge and competence. Together with the crypto media company The Big Whale, the DEC Institute offers two certification programs that follow these guidelines.

The MiCA Inform Certification (MIC) takes 80 hours over eight weeks in six modules and is meant for customer service, onboarding, sales and support staff who give information on crypto-assets. The MiCA Advisory Certification (MAC) takes 160 hours over 16 weeks in twelve modules. It prepares advisors, relationship managers and portfolio managers for suitability assessments, risk profiling and investor protection.

Both programs combine self-paced videos, an e-booklet, case studies with role plays and short assessments, and a firm can build shorter versions of 10 to 80 hours from single modules. Successful candidates receive a certificate from the DEC Institute and The Big Whale that The CPD Certification Service accredits. An employer or a supervisor can verify each certificate through a unique ID and a QR code.

For newcomers, the DEC Institute offers two online courses of 24 hours each on edX, Digital Asset 101 and Blockchain 101. The courses cover the technology, business and economics of digital assets as well as law, regulation and compliance. A learner who earns one of the two professional certificates is prepared for Level 1 of the CDAA or the CBA.

The DEC Institute joined the edX partner network in April 2023, with instructors from the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center, University College London and other members. In Switzerland, the Swiss Association of Asset Managers (VSV) accredits the Digital Asset 101 certificate. The CDAA also counts toward the recertification of the Certified Wealth Management Advisor, a title awarded by the Swiss Association for Quality (SAQ).

Five academic members co-developed the CBA and the CDAA: the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies, the FinTech Lab of the National University of Singapore, Blockchain@UBC in Vancouver, the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center and the Graduate School of Business of Politecnico di Milano. Further academic members are the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, the Austrian Blockchain Center ABC Research and IIIT Hyderabad in India.

Among the industry members are two Swiss banks for digital assets, AMINA Bank in Zug and Sygnum Bank in Zurich. The payments company Ripple from San Francisco is a member as well, together with the Web3 Foundation, the Tezos Foundation and the Cardano Foundation. The custody technology provider Taurus from Geneva, the blockchain analytics firm Elliptic and the law firms CMS and Lexcellence are industry members too.

The DEC Institute has two legal bodies, and both are registered in the Swiss canton of Zug. The DEC Association defines the knowledge standard and the code of conduct and ethics, and it holds shares in DEC Education Services AG. On a mandate from the board of the association, that company runs the commercial side of the charter programs.

Professor Tim Weingärtner is president and treasurer of the DEC Association. Arno Pernthaler, a co-founder of the DEC Institute, is vice president and secretary of the association and chairman of the DEC Institute. Members and charterholders must follow a code of conduct and ethics with five principles, from fairness and self-regulation to decentralized and inclusive governance.

The Frankfurt School Blockchain Center is one of the universities that co-developed the CDAA and the CBA, and its teachers prepare candidates in the edX courses. The DEC Institute is one of the organizations that the center co-founded, along with the Digital Euro Association and the consultancy intas.tech. In March 2026 the center became the Centre for Digital Economics of Frankfurt School.