What is the CBA Level 1 exam?
The CBA Level 1 exam is the entry sitting for DEC Institute's Chartered Blockchain Analyst charter - code CBA1.3x in Pearson VUE's system. DEC's official exam overview publishes the format plainly: 75 multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes, three options per question with one correct answer, a pass level of 75%, results emailed within about a week, and two attempts included per enrollment. There are no registration prerequisites. The syllabus is the technology-heavier of DEC's two charters - an 18-topic technology pillar, a 14-topic business and economics pillar, and a legal and regulatory area - aimed at enterprise, supply chain, healthcare, public services and utilities professionals. The sitting can be taken online from home via OnVUE or at a Pearson test center, verified per exam in Pearson's live registration flow on 2026-10-08.
What does the CBA Level 1 syllabus actually cover?
DEC's CBA program page structures the Level 1 syllabus around a technology pillar that runs 18 topics deep: blockchain history, blockchain principles, databases versus ledgers versus DLTs, cryptography, consensus mechanisms, blockchain architectures, the blockchain technology stack, smart contracts, cryptocurrencies, tokens, blockchain protocols, wallets, privacy, scalability, interoperability, dApps, DAOs, and oracles. That is two topics more than the CDAA's technology pillar - the CBA is the charter for people who need to evaluate the technology itself, not just its markets.
Business and Economics carries 14 topics: blockchain and the internet, innovation disruption and adoption principles applied to blockchain, blockchain ecosystems, blockchain economics, tokenisation in business, dApps in business, blockchain governance in business and DAOs, blockchain and sustainability, application areas in traditional financial services, decentralised finance, application areas in non-financial service sectors, application areas of NFTs, and supply chain with self-sovereign identity. The enterprise emphasis is deliberate - this pillar maps to the industries DEC says its CBA charterholders come from.
A Legal and Regulatory area completes the three-pillar structure. DEC's CBA page does not publish a topic count for that pillar the way it does for technology and business - so this guide describes the structure and declines to invent one. The exam mechanics, including the 75% pass level, apply across the whole sitting.
What is the exact CBA1.3x exam format?
Every headline number comes from DEC's exam overview: 75 multiple-choice questions, 60 minutes, pass level 75%, two test attempts per order, results emailed within one week of finishing the exam online. DEC's product page phrases the results promise as exam reports and results within five business days - the same week, stated two ways.
The question mechanics are where DEC is unusually candid. The Level 1 candidate acknowledgement states that each question has three options with only one correct; that you should pick the best option because some options may be partially correct; that some questions use well-known industry abbreviations you are expected to know; that questions may be made more complex by how they are written; and that a good pace is slightly less than one minute per question. Seventy-five questions in 60 minutes is 48 seconds each - a speed-and-judgment test, not an essay test.
The scoring is a straight pass level: 75% of 75 questions means 56 correct answers clear the bar. DEC publishes no sub-scores or section weightings for Level 1 - the 75% applies to the whole sitting.
What does the exam cost, and what comes with it?
DEC's official FAQ lists Level 1 at USD 499 - a price that already includes the study booklet with sample questions and the Pearson VUE exam fees, with no additional costs on top. The live DEC webshop displayed the CBA I Exam and Study Booklet product at USD 461.61 tax included on 2026-10-08: the operative checkout figure on that date, below the FAQ list. Both numbers are official; the FAQ is the published list, the webshop is what the checkout actually asked for.
The enrollment bundles more than the sitting: the study booklet, two attempts at the exam, and the scheduling path through the DEC dashboard. A failed first attempt does not force a new purchase. The optional DEC Association membership adds a one-time EUR 19 administrative fee - optional, not required to sit.
Above Level 1 sits Level 2 at USD 599 list (USD 554.12 displayed) or the two-level package at USD 999 list (USD 924.14 displayed). Six scholarship categories - access, student, academia, regulator, active member institution, supportive member institution - reduce the package to between USD 399 and USD 899 for eligible applicants, awarded monthly against an application. The full cost map, with every source, is in the companion cost explainer.
Can you take the CBA1.3x exam online from home?
Yes - and the claim here is per-exam verified, not program-level assumed. On 2026-10-08, Pearson's live DECINSTITUTE registration flow listed exactly four public exams, and the delivery-models step for CBA1.3x (exam id 51786) presented both "In-person at a test center" and "Online with OnVUE". Pearson's DEC Institute program page offers both routes in words, and the dedicated DEC OnVUE page publishes the at-home rules.
The OnVUE minimums: Windows 10 or macOS 14 or higher; working webcam, microphone, and speaker with no headphones; one display only; at least 6 Mbps download and 2 Mbps upload; every application except OnVUE closed. Prohibited: virtual machines, mobile devices, headphones, smart devices with recording or AI features, secondary or touchscreen displays, VPNs, corporate or shared networks. Check-in opens 30 minutes early with technology checks, ID photos, and a 360-degree room scan - and failing the minimums on exam day can cancel the sitting and forfeit the fee. DEC's product page adds the scheduling cadence: the online exam is available daily 24/7, the test-center exam weekly.
CBA versus CDAA: which DEC charter is which?
The two charters share the same Level 1 mechanics - 75 questions, 60 minutes, 75% pass level, two attempts - and the same delivery routes. What differs is who they are built for and what the syllabus weighs. The CBA targets digital innovation professionals across enterprise, supply chain, utilities, healthcare, public services and other non-financial sectors, and its technology pillar runs 18 topics deep with cryptography, privacy, and the full stack. The CDAA targets financial services and crypto-asset professionals - banking, asset management, trading, investment management, advisory - and its business and economics pillar runs heavier at 17 topics.
The charters also share the ladder above Level 1: Level 2 in the matching track (a 90-minute vignette exam of six cases with five questions each), the degree-or-experience enrollment requirement, the three-year validity with a refresher at renewal, and the one-time membership registration that turns the pass into the designation. If your work is evaluating blockchain for an organisation rather than trading digital assets, the CBA is the track DEC built for you.
Get the CBA Level 1 Sitting Handled
If the format is not the obstacle - the 48-second pace, the cryptography depth in the 18-topic technology pillar, the OnVUE environment sweep, or simply the calendar - Exam Assist handles the CBA1.3x sitting end to end: the DEC webshop enrollment path, the scheduling inside your DEC dashboard, the proctored exam itself, at home on OnVUE or at a Pearson test center. You keep the enrollment with its two included attempts and the study booklet DEC sold you; the risk of the sitting moves to the service. The service fee is due only after the agreed result posts - send the exam code, your window, and your deadline for an honest feasibility answer.