Defining The Digital Currency Professional

Editor’s note: David Berger is the CEO of the Digital Currency Council (DCC), an association of lawyers, accountants, and financial professionals in the bitcoin economy that provides training and certification, as well as connectivity with peers and the Blockchain. 

As new industries develop, new professions emerge. And when much is at stake and the industry is marked by an asymmetry of information between the layman and those in advisory roles, an organized process for defining and certifying those professionals is required. This process is critical for the success of the industry, as well as the success of those professionals who have invested in themselves to develop the much-needed expertise.

The digital currency economy demands a new knowledge set, as well as a means of developing and certifying that knowledge within an individual. The maturation and growth of the ecosystem depends on it.

Over recent months, with the input of our membership, we have defined the core competencies of a digital currency professional, developed an online curriculum around those core competencies, and established the examination of those core competencies:

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As challenging as outlining these competencies was, excluding those competencies not considered core required equal consideration.  While the standards set must be high, the profession must also be accessible to those who apply themselves to meeting its standards. The core competencies establish a base line of expertise, not an ideal or aspirational standard that is developed over the course of a career.

As such, in developing these core competencies, we specifically chose to exclude certain skill sets, which may indeed, over time, become specialties within the profession driven by experience and continuing education.

The requisite knowledge is not stagnant, but instead will change and develop in a fashion as dynamic as the industry itself, requiring — similar to other professions — those in the digital currency profession to continue their educations throughout their respective careers.

We are not here proposing an exclusive professional category, but a complementary one that does and will include attorneys, accountants, compliance officers, financial advisors, business consultants, information technology professionals, and many others with distinct and complementary standards and skills.

As the iron worker came to be out of the industrial revolution, the railroad engineer emerged out of the gilded age, the astronaut rose out of the space age, and the IT professional developed out of the information age, today marks the establishment of the digital currency professional – out of the age of decentralized digital currencies with the promise of new efficiencies, accessibility for all, and benefits defined by math and transparency.

Digital currencies will define this next era of human advancement. The digital currency professionals will drive the outcomes of this era.