The CFA exam, famed for being difficult, will soon include cryptocurrency-related questions. Business Insider has previously referred to the test as the ”most brutal exam in the world of finance” and is a significant credential for those working within the banking or financial sector.

The cryptocurrency and blockchain-related section will reportedly be included in the test starting from August of 2019.

The Chartered Financial Analyst credential is offered by the CFA Institute, and anyone who completes the program and fulfills the various requirements becomes a so-called ”CFA Charterholder”.

More specifically, anyone looking to become a charter holder must possess at least 48 months of relevant work experience, or combined education and work experience. Moreover, applicants must have completed the CFA Program and become a member of the CFA Institute, as well as adhere to the Institute’s Code of Ethics.

Those who successfully complete the program join around 150,000 existing charter holders. According to data from the CFA Institute, established Wall Street actors such as Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan, RBC and UBS are the top employers of CFA charterholders.

The managing director for the CFA Institute’s general education and curriculum, Stephen Horan, has stated that the inclusion of cryptocurrency-related questions is necessary since the cryptocurrency field has proven ”more durable” than initially believed by the Institute.

Moreover, Horan also pointed out the rapid advancement of the cryptocurrency sector as one of the reasons for its addition to the CFA exam, simply stating that it ”is not a passing fad”.

The cryptocurrency and blockchain section of the curriculum will be covered as a part of ”Fintech in Investment Management”. In addition to this area, other topics of emerging fintech will also be covered, including machine learning, artificial intelligence and automated trading.

Furthermore, this can be seen as an important step towards educating tomorrow’s institutional traders about the importance and specifics of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain.

Wall Street has historically been reluctant to embrace cryptocurrencies, although recent moves have seen institutional investors start to warm to the technology.

Toshi Times has previously reported how the $6 trillion asset management BlackRock recently started exploring Bitcoin, and Japan also recently saw the launch of the world’s first bank-banked cryptocurrency trading platform.

These are just a few of the many signs that institutional traders will have to be more aware of cryptocurrencies moving forward, and the inclusion of cryptocurrencies on the CFA exam is also a significant milestone towards ensuring this.

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