What is the CDAA Level 1 exam?
The CDAA Level 1 exam is the entry sitting for DEC Institute's Chartered Digital Asset Analyst charter - code CDAA1.3x 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 spans three pillars - technology (14 topics), business and economics (17 topics), and legal and regulatory (9 topics) - and 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 CDAA Level 1 syllabus actually cover?
DEC's CDAA program page structures the Level 1 syllabus in three pillars. Technology carries 14 topics: blockchain history, blockchain principles, consensus mechanisms, blockchain architectures, smart contracts, cryptocurrencies, tokens, blockchain protocols, wallets, scalability, interoperability, dApps, DAOs, and oracles. It is the conceptual foundation - what the technology is and how its pieces fit.
Business and Economics is the heavyweight pillar at 17 topics: blockchain and the internet, the blockchain ecosystem, industry investment, ICOs and IEOs for capital raising, blockchain economics, blockchain and token investments, tokenisation in business, digital asset business models, 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 sectors, application areas of NFTs, stablecoins, and central bank digital currency. For a finance-track charter, this is where the exam earns its name.
Legal and Regulatory closes the structure with 9 topics on the legal and regulatory treatment of cryptoassets and applications, the treatment of cryptoasset fundraising, and the regulatory standing of blockchain technology. Candidates from markets backgrounds routinely under-prepare this pillar - and at a 75% pass level, a weak third of the syllabus is how sittings fail.
What is the exact CDAA1.3x 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 - the exam is 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 CDAA 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 CDAA1.3x 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 CDAA1.3x (exam id 51787) 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.
How booking the CDAA Level 1 exam actually works
The path runs through DEC's own shop, not a standalone Pearson signup. Step one: enroll in the CDAA exam on the DEC webshop - the CDAA I Exam and Study Booklet product. Step two: access the Pearson VUE scheduling tool through your DEC dashboard. Step three: inside the flow, pick your exam - CDAA1.3x - and choose "Online with OnVUE" or "In-person at a test center" on the delivery-models step. Step four: if you chose home, run the OnVUE system test on the same device and network you will use on exam day.
After the pass, two more steps complete the designation: the one-time membership registration with the DEC Association, and - for the full charter - Level 2, which requires your valid Level 1 designation plus a bachelor's degree, current undergraduate enrollment, or six months of industry work experience. The CDAA I designation is valid three years, with a short refresher program at renewal covering the topics added since your exam.
Get the CDAA Level 1 Sitting Handled
If the format is not the obstacle - the 48-second pace, the legal and regulatory pillar, the OnVUE environment sweep, or simply the calendar - Exam Assist handles the CDAA1.3x 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.