CBP Is Not Just For Men

Gone are the days when Bitcoin solely belonged to the sphere of long-haired technophiles. Lambos, steak, and “moon” now characterize Bitcoin’s culture and Bitcoin’s rainbow charts seem to be making more headlines than the Bitcoin whitepaper. However, this doesn’t mean that we should forget about Bitcoin’s origins and the fact that this technology emerged in part as a response to the 2008 financial crisis.

Bitcoin is revolutionary because it allows anyone to participate in finance by removing gatekeepers. This means that no matter your race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, location, and even credit score, if you have an internet connection you can participate in Bitcoin.

As a woman, accessibility to Bitcoin is a vision that I consciously strive to promote in this industry. It is also the reason why I decided to get my Certified Bitcoin Professional (CBP) designation. Having the CBP makes me feel more confident about my professional skills in an industry that too often gets infiltrated by ICO scammers, rent seekers and “get-rich-quick” swindlers. The certification also helps put my mind at ease knowing that I can succeed in an industry that is heavily dominated by men since my professional skills and experiences can get the recognition they deserve.

You may be wondering if the CBP is right for you, especially if you’re coming from a non-technical background like mine. There is no denying that Bitcoin is technically complex, but this exam isn’t overly technical. There are some excellent free resources available that can help you pass the CBP. “Mastering Bitcoin” — written by C4’s own board member and Bitcoin and open blockchain educator, Andreas M. Antonopoulos — is the book that I used to prepare for the exam. The free PDF version can be found here: https://github.com/bitcoinbook/bitcoinbook. I highly recommend using this text because the technical content is presented in a very clear and straightforward way. This text also works great for non-coders. I skimmed through the coding portion, which I highly recommend doing since it helps you learn a lot about Bitcoin’s internal workings, but it isn’t necessary to becoming a CBP.

If you’re more of an audio and visual learner, C4 offers a course that teaches you the fundamentals of Bitcoin and everything else you need to prepare you for the exam.You can find the course on Thinkific here: https://cryptoconsortium.thinkific.com/courses/CBP-course. Since I was already familiar with Bitcoin’s essentials, I didn’t take the course, but it is a great place for Bitcoin newbies to start.

As I already mentioned, I was worried that my lack of technical knowledge would somehow prevent me from doing well on the exam, but, to my pleasant surprise, the exam is crafted in a way that makes it accessible to everyone (thank you C4!).

For example, many of the exam questions focused on broad concepts that were discussed extensively in the book. To pass the exam, I had 20 minutes to answer 75 questions and I had to get 70% of the exam questions right.

Overall, I’d say that the exam turned out to be fair game. While I could not get through all 75 questions, I still passed and was able to prove my knowledge and understanding of Bitcoin. Of course, the best part about this whole experience is that after you pass the exam, you get a personalized certificate mailed to you. Having the proof that demonstrates I know my Bitcoin stuff feels really good ☺

The CBP is not just for men and I am living proof. I am now proud to call myself a Certified Bitcoin Professional and I’m excited at the opportunities that the CBP will bring not only to me, but to everyone seeking to make a meaningful contribution to this ecosystem.

• Ann Brody is a researcher who studies blockchain communities and decentralization. You can find her on Twitter here: @annbrody7
• This content is written by a volunteer who does what they want outside of helping C4. They don’t speak for our org, but we do appreciate their willingness to help out.