Certified Bitcoin Professional

[QuestionAuthority]

A Certified Bitcoin Professional (CBP) is someone who is able to use Bitcoin properly.

Wait, do you think its a good idea to send the message that in order to use Bitcoin properly you have to be a certified professional?
If this is the case, Bitcoin is doomed to never get widely adopted.

.. how do you guys not understand this concept...  

Have anyone of you worked in a company of more than 10 000 in a positon that isn't flipping burgers........?


If you are a bitcoin exchange you can have all of your employees get this so you know the receptionist, etc all understand the basics of bitcoin.  Now you can claim all of your employees have CBP.  Sure the techies won't care but the masses will.  When you are considering 3 different exchanges every step up on yours helps.

Just like at rockwell, they don't care if you are a P eng if you are going to wire you must take and pass a wiring course.  

Perhaps someone wants to open up a crypto help line!!  You can put on your website everyone is CBP certified and they have some CBX people as well.. Now if you are a noob in the crypto industry you would be tempted to use their services as you know they some proven knowledge.

Do you realize that certifications are only as valid as the stature of the certifying organization? If it were being managed by Columbia University I'm sure I'd feel differently. http://ce.columbia.edu/certificates/business-certificate

I know the people that signed off on the curriculum are big names in Bitcoin business and development but how do I know what they know? Maybe a verifiable CV from everyone involved should be posted on the website for review. I like to be frugal with my education dollar. If I can see a return value in it maybe I'll spend the money and then get a job at one of these new call centers I keep hearing about. lol

[1714819118]

1714819118

[spazzdla]

Aye they do need to build up a rep, give them time.  IMO it is a great time to try to start something like this.  If they can get a bunch of people to take it and a few companies they will gain traction.
Perhaps they will be able to team up with a college in the future.

[inBitweTrust]

A Certified Bitcoin Professional (CBP) is someone who is able to use Bitcoin properly.

Wait, do you think its a good idea to send the message that in order to use Bitcoin properly you have to be a certified professional?
If this is the case, Bitcoin is doomed to never get widely adopted.

.. how do you guys not understand this concept...  

Have anyone of you worked in a company of more than 10 000 in a positon that isn't flipping burgers........?


If you are a bitcoin exchange you can have all of your employees get this so you know the receptionist, etc all understand the basics of bitcoin.  Now you can claim all of your employees have CBP.  Sure the techies won't care but the masses will.  When you are considering 3 different exchanges every step up on yours helps.

Just like at rockwell, they don't care if you are a P eng if you are going to wire you must take and pass a wiring course.  

Perhaps someone wants to open up a crypto help line!!  You can put on your website everyone is CBP certified and they have some CBX people as well.. Now if you are a noob in the crypto industry you would be tempted to use their services as you know they some proven knowledge.

The questionnaire could be freely distributed to companies and the trainers/bosses hand out the tests to make sure employees aren't newbies.

The real reason most fortune 500 companies require certifications/diplomas from third parties is primarily for legal reasons so they don't get sued because in 1971 the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling (Griggs v. Duke Power) saying that if companies use aptitude testing to screen potential employees, they must be prepared to show that their tests are precisely calibrated to the needs of the job, otherwise, they will be guilty of employment discrimination.

Any employer understands that it is typically far more effective to test employees directly as they regularly cycle through recently certified and graduated idiots.

so , yes , this "certification" does server a role for large companies , but for all the wrong reasons.

Do you realize that certifications are only as valid as the stature of the certifying organization?

Nope, not even that. There are plenty of certifiable idiots graduating from Ivy league institutions or getting "prestigious" certifications.
The proof is in the work, and I would better trust the capabilities of an individual who has real experience and contributions over any online test(that one can easily cheat with )

[tigereye]

A Certified Bitcoin Professional (CBP) is someone who is able to use Bitcoin properly.

Wait, do you think its a good idea to send the message that in order to use Bitcoin properly you have to be a certified professional?
If this is the case, Bitcoin is doomed to never get widely adopted.

No I don't, and that's not how certifications work.

The message we're sending is that people who are able to answer these questions in a restricted time-frame DO have the minimum knowledge required to use Bitcoin properly.

Like with any industry, certifications are not black/white between people who know/don't know about a subject. I come from the information security industry and I know many uncertified professionals who can run circles around certified professionals with their knowledge and experience. You don't need to have a certification to be a good security professional, and you don't need to have a CBP to be able to use Bitcoin.

That said, certificates do prove that you have a minimum level of knowledge. In the security industry, there are many jobs which require at least a CISA, CISM, or CISSP certification before even being considered for the position. Speaking with these HR personnel, they understood fully that there are many candidates out there who would fit the role perfectly despite not having one of these prerequisite certs, however it takes too many resources to risk that role on someone who wasn't certified. What if they seemed good in the interview but didn't actually know what was necessary? The HR paperwork, the month of pay, and the on-site training in the company's procedures would all go to waste while they resubmitted the job description and resumed the hunt for another candidate. By requiring the certificate they knew in advance that the candidates had the knowledge without spending a month to figure that out.

Finally, like with all certifications, they're not for everyone. Many people believe in certs, and many people think they're a waste of money and time.
C4 was built to establish these minimums in our industry in a not-for-profit way. If someone or their business doesn't have a need for measuring knowledge against these minimums, then they don't have to use it; C4 is here for those that do.

[frankenmint]

okay, so you guys got everything fucked up, no one is I'm not nor is the OP complaining about why certifications are required or not or important or not.  I'll be damn sure that my doctor or engineer that I am using for consulting has the proper qualifications and certifications.

My beef with this was the fact that a pointless thread was put up here to 'showcase' absolutely nothing.

To be honest help, we don't care (no fucks have been given) that you got the certifications; good job if that makes you feel better.  If you wrote this on a blog somewhere, that would have been different.  I came to read this because I thought you were going to discuss 'what should be considered necessary' to be considered a certified bitcoin professional - like maybe explaining a new user orientation process or how to engage with a potential business owner on the pros and cons of bitcoin implementation for their smb.  

Starting a pointless thread saying 'hey look guys, I got it!' just points out your ineffectiveness to use your credentials.  I would have to say that a majority of the members and above here could use a wallet, send bitcoin, receive bitcoin, and probably link their bank account to coinbase to convert to cash to cover company expenses.  

Next time pen a thread that provokes discussion amongst us, you probably could've gotten better feedback across the board by saying:  "just got my CBP credentials - open for business!"  With a body that says, "yea I know it might not mean much to anyone, but I'm glad I did it!  I think it will help me help others in the area of X, Y, and Z.  Am I missing something that could make things even more awesome?"

Since you've gotten your cpb, how many businesses have you consulted with?  How many have you successfully convinced to adopt and implement bitcoin?  

You come off as full of yourself is all I'm saying.  I'm pretty sure you've locked me into your ignore radar so its not like you can see this anyway without someone blockquoting me

[2dogs]

When the C4 was first discussed, I signed up for an email update to be notified when the program was ready.
That was a few months ago and didn't hear anything until this thread.
Thanks to the OP, I am again on track to obtain my intended certification.

[HELP.org]

Since you've gotten your cpb, how many businesses have you consulted with?  How many have you successfully convinced to adopt and implement bitcoin?  

I already explained I am retired and I already have a Master's in physics and Com Sci degrees from Rutgers, and a CISSP.  I am putting together web sites such as http://bitcoin.me so you can see for yourself.  I just launched the Bitcoin.me video and I am getting a pretty good reaction from those that see it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4UYpbRO8nw

[HELP.org]

BTW - I also obtained the FinCEN ruling concerning Bitcoin mining:

http://www.coindesk.com/fincen-bitcoin-miners-need-not-register-money-transmitters/
http://cointext.com/fincen-issues-bitcoin-friendly-ruling-for-miners/

I would think all these activities, along with passing the test, qualifies me for the lowest level certification.

[Abstrct]

When the C4 was first discussed, I signed up for an email update to be notified when the program was ready.
That was a few months ago and didn't hear anything until this thread.
Thanks to the OP, I am again on track to obtain my intended certification.

Our email to those who signed up is going out this week Thanks for your patience and support.

[QuestionAuthority]

BTW - I also obtained the FinCEN ruling concerning Bitcoin mining:

http://www.coindesk.com/fincen-bitcoin-miners-need-not-register-money-transmitters/
http://cointext.com/fincen-issues-bitcoin-friendly-ruling-for-miners/

I would think all these activities, along with passing the test, qualifies me for the lowest level certification.

Of course you're qualified for a certification. Everyone reading this forum for more than a year is probably qualified. I think it would be better for you to link up with a brick n mortar school to offer the certification online. That might add a little credence to it. You're in New Jersey right? Why not contact NJIT or UNNJ about offering an online class? You could even offer them the curriculum and teach them about Bitcoin. Make the pitch that other universities are now offering Bitcoin courses and they could lead the country in being the first to have a certification program using this new technology. Not to mention the fact that they will make a little money on the deal.

I didn't know you were the one that asked FinCEN for a ruling. Good job, that's great! That letter is sufficiently vague that I don't see any proof that miners can't still be prosecuted in the future. The part that worries me the most is:

user’s own purposes and not as a business service performed for the benefit of another

Isn't mining all about verifying transaction records of another (the bank ledger), printing new money to be distributed to another (unless you're solo mining -rofl) and receiving transaction fees as "the bank". The only thing saving us now is that fiat isn't involved and Bitcoin isn't considered money - yet.

[HELP.org]

Of course you're qualified for a certification. Everyone reading this forum for more than a year is probably qualified. I think it would be better for you to link up with a brick n mortar school to offer the certification online. That might add a little credence to it. You're in New Jersey right? Why not contact NJIT or UNNJ about offering an online class? You could even offer them the curriculum and teach them about Bitcoin. Make the pitch that other universities are now offering Bitcoin courses and they could lead the country in being the first to have a certification program using this new technology. Not to mention the fact that they will make a little money on the deal.

Not specifically for certification but I actually have been making Bitcoin caontacts.  I contacted Rutgers and Stockton (near Atlantic City) but no real interest so far. 

Shamoon Siddiqui has been working with NJIT http://njitvector.com/2013/colloquium-bitcoins-with-shamoon-siddiqui/

Princeton has professor Felton doing some research https://freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/felten/bitcoin-research-in-princeton-cs/

[QuestionAuthority]

Of course you're qualified for a certification. Everyone reading this forum for more than a year is probably qualified. I think it would be better for you to link up with a brick n mortar school to offer the certification online. That might add a little credence to it. You're in New Jersey right? Why not contact NJIT or UNNJ about offering an online class? You could even offer them the curriculum and teach them about Bitcoin. Make the pitch that other universities are now offering Bitcoin courses and they could lead the country in being the first to have a certification program using this new technology. Not to mention the fact that they will make a little money on the deal.

Not specifically for certification but I actually have been making Bitcoin caontacts.  I contacted Rutgers and Stockton (near Atlantic City) but no real interest so far. 

Shamoon Siddiqui has been working with NJIT http://njitvector.com/2013/colloquium-bitcoins-with-shamoon-siddiqui/

Princeton has professor Felton doing some research https://freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/felten/bitcoin-research-in-princeton-cs/

Well I'm sure if you keep at it you'll make it happen. I think the business certification idea is a good one. I had my reservations at first like Rassah did because we have seen so many money grabs using this forum you end up like a puppy hit with a rolled up newspaper too many times. You flinch and react before you think. This idea may be a little premature but I guess that won't hurt. Linking it to an established respected institution of higher learning is priceless and could help some kid get a job someday. Good luck.

[frankenmint]

BTW - I also obtained the FinCEN ruling concerning Bitcoin mining:

http://www.coindesk.com/fincen-bitcoin-miners-need-not-register-money-transmitters/
http://cointext.com/fincen-issues-bitcoin-friendly-ruling-for-miners/

I would think all these activities, along with passing the test, qualifies me for the lowest level certification.

Thank you for taking the initiative to do this, seriously.

[jersey19957]

How do we know this is given value anywhere?

[BitFrank]

Francis from the Bitcoin Embassy here.

I think the CBP is a great idea because a large number of Bitcoiners have spent countless hours self-educating themselves about Bitcoin and other cryptos. How can you possibly measure this and put it on a CV? Write in the hobbies section "I read a lot of information about Bitcoin?"

Some employers might want their employees to be "bitcoin-savy" without necessarily meaning that they want them to do Bitcoin-related work for them.

 Simple use-case: you're a student and want to apply as a waiter and on your CV you have a Bitcoin certificate. Restaurant owner accepts Bitcoin, in which case he doesn't have to bother wasting hours on how to accept BTC payments. He might even ask you to manage the wallet, etc. Other case: restaurant owner wants to accept Bitcoin but doesn't really understand / can't be bother to operate the wallet himself or set up the payment channel. He might want to hire you with the added benefit of having an employee being able to set up Bitcoin payments.

Other use-case: applying for a university degree where the faculty is looking for students who are pro-active in their learning or that value self-learning.

The point: if you're and employer planning on accepting Bitcoin payments directly for your business and having someone that can manage a Bitcoin wallet is a plus for you, the CBP might be a good way for you to get the most out of your recruiting process.

Knowing the people who are behind cryptoconsortium, I think this is a legit project to help bring more clarity to the Bitcoin HR Market. I'm pretty confident that they could have found a more profitable business model and that they are truly trying to help the bitcoin economy.  I read somewhere on this topic that they would donate some of the profits in order to truly remain a non-profit project - if that's true than I just don't see how this could possibly be a scam.

Can't wait to see what's in the CBX!

[Rw13enlib88]

You know when a certification is interesting for the masses?
when they cheat to get it
I cant see your Q&As 

[lontivero]

A Certified Bitcoin Professional (CBP) is someone who is able to use Bitcoin properly.

Wait, do you think its a good idea to send the message that in order to use Bitcoin properly you have to be a certified professional?
If this is the case, Bitcoin is doomed to never get widely adopted.

You're right, absolutly right. However I remember the courses and certificates "PC operator" (or something like that).

[Abstrct]

Since this is one of our more visited discussions about the CBP, I wanted to add that we recently wrote an article to explain how and why we developed the Certified Bitcoin Professional.

http://blog.cryptoconsortium.org/how-we-defined-the-certified-bitcoin-professional/

I am happy to answer any further questions and comments people have.

[ninjaboon]

BTW - I also obtained the FinCEN ruling concerning Bitcoin mining:

http://www.coindesk.com/fincen-bitcoin-miners-need-not-register-money-transmitters/
http://cointext.com/fincen-issues-bitcoin-friendly-ruling-for-miners/

I would think all these activities, along with passing the test, qualifies me for the lowest level certification.

Of course you're qualified for a certification. Everyone reading this forum for more than a year is probably qualified. I think it would be better for you to link up with a brick n mortar school to offer the certification online. That might add a little credence to it.

There is a company that is planning to do that - "link up with a brick n mortar school."

In fact they are lining up a few schools to offer the physical cert for their courses.

PM me as we could JV on this. Who has the email for Michael Perklin?

[Hullabaloo]

If you want to LEARN all about bitcoin, your money is better spent getting something like Andreas Antonopoulos' book. But if you want to help build up some credibility FOR (not IN) the "crypto industry", then CBP isn't a bad place to start.

"Professional certifications" certainly have a value for HR departments and consultants. 99% of certs are a scam, because the people who certify you are the same people who make/sell the products you're certified on.  Which could also be true in this case, except that the Bitcoin tools and docs are free. So why buy a certification?

The people offering this certification might be too early - but it has to start somewhere.  The CPB level is like a secretary's (sorry, executive assistant's!) proof of basic competence like ability to type X wpm, understand filing systems and have good phone manners.  If a business has to or plans to handle bitcoins in the future, then their HR dept. will be happy to find a candidate that at least knows not to put the private keys unencrypted on a removable thumb drive.

But it's "too early" because no business is asking for it yet. It's bootstrapping - people need to learn about Bitcoins to want them, and who better to spread the word than a CBP?  When HR personnel start seeing "CBP" on resumes, they'll get used to and start to demand it - even if they don't know what is it. (Intelligence isn't a requirement for HR work afaik )
The CBP certification is superficial because the technology is brand new.  You don't really need to hire someone to set up a wallet hierarchy for your departments and be a "key master"/wallet admin because the wallets aren't that complicated yet. But someday they will be and then CBP will certainly be "worth" something.
On the other hand, how many current "altcoin devs" would fail to achieve even basic CBP level?  I'd love to know!

I think it might end up like the "Scrum Master" cert. About 100$ CAD (when I did it), a couple hours of reading, easy exam, but being able to apply to "Scrum master"/Agile jobs is worth the cost, even if Scrum is a scam.  Laugh at the people spending money all you want, there will *always* be cert. programs when $ is involved.  This one is probably not worth it for anyone savvy enough to be on bitcointalk, but it only takes one big HR department to start demanding "something" for a certification program to pop up. All the better if it's run by a non-profit, right?

C4/CBP does have some failings, in my opinion. First off there is no publicly visible count of how many people have achieved CBP, or even applied.  That doesn't encourage businesses/HR to demand it or vet its worth. There's no official training material or "trial" test.  And as far as I know they don't offer to link to a live logo/visible certificate you could put on linkedin or whatever.

So personally I'm going to use my money to buy another 0.5 BTC But as a professional software dev, I am definitely looking forward to the CBX cert!