The biggest invention of the last decade is finally going everywhere after Bloomberg reported that the CFA Institute (Chartered Financial Analyst) has added cryptos and blockchain to its curriculum. This means that the three-stage CFA exam, arguably one of the toughest in the finance world will now include a section on cryptocurrencies in the 2019 series.
A new reading titled ‘Fintech in Investment Management’ will contain topics in the trending crypto industry as well as other modern technologies such as Artificial intelligence, machine learning, Big data, and automated trading.
Speaking on the addition of cryptocurrencies to their already robust curriculum, Stephen Horan, managing director for general education and curriculum at CFA Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia said that ‘virtual coins are not a passing fad.’
A surge of interest in the space has remarkably grown through the years leading up to the 2017 market boom, and the Institute believes now is the right time to queue in.
“We saw the field advancing more quickly than other fields and we also saw it as more durable,” Horan admitted, firmly pointing to the power of modern technology and processes to revolutionize swathes of the global financial system.
“It will be beneficial for us since there’s been a huge expansion and adoption of crypto in our investment universe,” added Kayden Lee, a student who took the CFA first level exams last month.
So far, the exam has raised over 150,000 finance professionals, with more than 220,000 persons vying to write the June series of the test. A majority of candidates for the programme are reportedly coming from Asia, home to the digital money technology.
Aside from adding crypto to the major disciplines, the professional ethics segment of the CFA curriculum will also include readings about digital currencies.
This will likely go on to curb market manipulation, money laundering, and theft in the largely unregulated industry.
There is little doubt that a number of financial training institutions who have been sitting on the fence regarding a possible introduction of cryptocurrencies, can finally get on the trail with a reputable organization like the CFA now leading the way.
If this would happen, then crypto can go everywhere in the educational world and maybe find its way down to the high school!
