Qntra earlier reported on the deficiencies of the CryptoCurrency Certification Consortium (C4) operated by the good friends of Vitalik Buterin of Ethereum infamy. The lunacy of the certifications inspired Mircea Popescu to create a superior alternative. Trilema has published a system for scoring one's basic comprehension of Bitcoin called the Basic Bitcoin Competency Certification.

The questions used to measure competency revolve around four subjects: Mathematics, applied; Economics, applied; Computer Science, Engineer and Systems Design Applied; Sociopsychology and Operational Security, applied. Scoring is done through a life cycle process in one of two ways. The first is for one to write down the answers, do some reading and homework while evaluating and revising these answers over a period of time. The second is registering into the Web of Trust upon which one's answers may be clearsigned and placed as a comment on Trilema and await feedback. Mircea Popescu states either method is valid.

Many in the Bitcoin world would have you believe books such as Mastering Bitcoin or C4’s expert certification has a bearing on one's Bitcoin related comprehension.