Share this article
The CFA Exam Is Getting a Crypto Section Next Year
The Chartered Financial Analyst Program Exams are about to add topics on cryptocurrencies as examinable material for candidates in August 2019.
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 8:10 a.m. Published Jul 17, 2018, 2:00 a.m.
The notoriously difficult Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Program exams are about to get that much tougher.
Dubbed "the most brutal exam in the world of finance" by Business Insider, the three-part test covering several different areas of finance – all with a heavy focus on ethics – is about to add topics on cryptocurrencies and blockchain as examinable material in August 2019.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
According to Bloomberg, Stephen Horan, the managing director for general education and curriculum for the CFA Institute overseeing CFA exams, said on the matter:
"We saw the field [of crypto] advancing more quickly than other fields and we also saw it as more durable… This is not a passing fad."
Cryptocurrencies and blockchain will be part of a new CFA curriculum section dubbed "Fintech in Investment Management" alongside other topics in emerging financial technology such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and automated trading.
CFA exams are said to attract over 100,000 people from around the globe with less than half of all examinees failing the first round of testing. Since the start of the program back in 1963, some 150,000 have been accredited as CFA "charterholders" having successfully completed the three levels of testing.
These changes to CFA exams come in light of past announcements by complementary institutions announcing new work in the crypto space.
Back in February, the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association boasted the creation of new advisory boards consisting of "cryptocurrency experts," while the Digital Currency Council several years prior launched their own professional accreditation program for financial advisors looking to specialize in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
Test writing image via Shutterstock
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Bitcoin's bearish turn deepens as 75 out of top 100 coins trade below key averages; Nasdaq resilient
Crypto's bear grip squeezes tighter as 75 of top 100 coins trade below 50- and 200-day SMAs.
What to know:
- 75 of the top 100 coins trade below their 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages.
- Major cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, ether, and solana are underperforming the key averages, denting risk sentiment.
- Only eight of the top 100 coins are considered oversold, indicating that most coins may still have room to fall further.
