Fraunhofer’s Certified Blockchain Professional Basic Level uses a 3.5-hour written examination and requires a documented Web3 application concept. Prepare from the ten topic areas in Anlage A of the December 2025 handbook, paying attention to whether each objective asks for recall or application. The sections below explain eligibility, assessment rules and renewal.
What the certificate covers and who it targets
A Fraunhofer personnel certificate confirming you understand distributed ledger and blockchain fundamentals, Web3 data management, smart contracts, and can analyze and design DLT use cases in a company.
The Certified Blockchain Professional Basic Level is a personnel certificate issued by the Fraunhofer-Personenzertifizierungsstelle, the certification body at Fraunhofer FIT in Sankt Augustin, Germany. It is the entry level of a certification program for distributed ledger technology that currently focuses on blockchain. The handbook defines the program, the examination rules, and the requirement profile for each certificate.
A certified holder is described as informed across all levels of the DLT value chain, familiar with smart contracts as automation tools, versed in distributed ledger and blockchain fundamentals and current methods, informed about Web3 data-management concepts, and able to analyze and design DLT use cases in a company and to initiate or carry out their implementation. The issuer positions the certificate primarily for decision-makers such as CTOs, CIOs, and innovation managers who steer technology strategy and want to advance new products and services.
The program also plans Specialized, Advanced, and Senior profiles, but the handbook marks all of those profiles as still in development. Advanced Level is intended to combine Basic and specialized certificates with at least a year of DLT work experience. For now, the Basic Level profile is the one you can actually complete.
- Issuer: Fraunhofer-Personenzertifizierungsstelle at Fraunhofer FIT, Germany
- Applicable rules: certification handbook and examination rules for DLT, Revision 02, valid from December 2025
- Focus: analysis, use-case design, and conceptual understanding rather than coding
- Higher profiles (Specialized, Advanced, Senior): listed but still in development
Official sources: Fraunhofer Distributed Ledger Technology certification handbook and examination rules — Sections 4–5 and Anlage A; Distributed Ledger Technology / Blockchain — Blockchain Professional (Basic Level) program page
Eligibility: the practical task requirement
You must document one practical task — a Web3 application concept of three to five A4 pages from a recognized training provider. No other qualifications or experience are required, and missing prerequisites can be submitted within a year after the exam.
Basic Level has exactly one documented prerequisite: a practical task completed during a continuing-education course at a training provider the certification body recognizes. The task is a concept for a Web3 application that describes the use case, the business problem, and the implementation concept. The handbook expects roughly three to five A4 pages at font size 11.
No additional qualifications, permissions, or prior experience are required, and no personal prerequisites apply. If a prerequisite is missing when you sit the exam, you may submit it up to one year afterwards; the certificate is issued once everything is verified, at the latest one year after your last exam. In justified exceptional cases, the body can accept alternative evidence.
Registration is a written application to the certification body. It must state your name, date of birth, and private address, your employer and role if applicable, the profile you want to certify, and whether it is a first attempt or a repeat. The body sets the exam dates.
- Practical task: Web3 application concept covering use case, business problem, and implementation concept
- Length and format: about three to five A4 pages, font size 11
- Catch-up rule: submit missing prerequisites up to one year after the exam
- Application: written, with personal details, target profile, and first-or-repeat declaration
Official sources: Fraunhofer Distributed Ledger Technology certification handbook and examination rules — Sections 4–5 and Anlage A
Exam format, scoring, and retakes
A 3.5-hour written exam with practical relevance, taken in person or online under supervision, without aids. You need 67 percent fulfillment to pass and may retake it up to twice.
The exam is written and consists of a theoretical part with practical relevance. It usually takes place in person, but online-supervised sessions are also possible, and the certification body decides which format runs on which date. In-person candidates answer by hand; online candidates type their answers.
You get 3.5 hours, and no aids are permitted. Questions are drawn from a catalog validated by the responsible technical committee and mix purely theoretical items with practice-related tasks. Candidates who cannot take the exam in the standard form due to a disability can request individual accommodations.
Scoring is criterion-based: model solutions and per-question point values guide the graders, and you must reach at least 67 percent fulfillment of the tasks. Below that threshold, no certificate is issued. If you fail, you can repeat the exam up to twice. The handbook does not publish the total number of questions or their split across topic areas for this profile.
- Duration: 3.5 hours
- Formats: in person (handwritten) or online-supervised (typed)
- Aids: not permitted; accommodations available for disability
- Pass mark: at least 67 percent fulfillment of the tasks
- Retakes: up to two after a failed attempt
Official sources: Fraunhofer Distributed Ledger Technology certification handbook and examination rules — Sections 4–5 and Anlage A
The official topic areas and objective levels
Anlage A of the handbook names the competencies the exam is built on, across ten topic areas, at recall (kennen) and application (anwenden) level only — no mandatory evaluation-level objectives apply to this profile.
The handbook names the competencies in Anlage A as the basis for the Basic Level exam, topic area by topic area, with each objective tagged to an expected level. Two levels apply here: kennen, meaning recall — reproducing material from memory on demand — and anwenden, meaning applying what you learned to new tasks. The handbook also notes that this profile currently includes no topic areas that mandate beurteilen, the evaluation and transfer level.
| Topic area (Anlage A) | What the objectives ask you to do |
|---|---|
| DLT and blockchain fundamentals | Give blockchain application examples; differentiate Web 1, 2, and 3; discuss Web3 opportunities and challenges; assess whether a use case suits blockchain |
| Use cases | Order the steps of use-case development; choose convincing sales arguments for a given scenario; formulate and present your own use case |
| Conceptual foundations | Contrast a distributed blockchain with a centralized database; explain how transactions are stored and why they resist manipulation; describe hash functions, consensus, and the role of smart contracts |
| Operations | Name common attack types and defenses; classify a blockchain's energy use by its consensus method; weigh private against public designs |
| Trends | Distinguish memecoins from classic cryptocurrencies; explain prediction markets, oracles, DeFi applications, and stablecoins |
| Self-sovereign identity (SSI) | Explain DIDs, verifiable credentials, and issuer/holder/verifier roles; contrast PKI and SSI trust models; describe SSI wallets |
| NFTs and tokenization | Define tokenization; classify token types; name NFT standards and project steps; describe wallets and token-gated access |
| Governance | Explain governance in Web3 and blockchain; compare governance concepts and their trade-offs |
| Legal aspects | Name the legal issues in operating a blockchain, including GDPR-relevant aspects |
| Data spaces and IPFS | Sketch data-space concepts; explain IPFS content addressing versus HTTP; assess IPFS risks and its interplay with blockchains |
Official sources: Fraunhofer Distributed Ledger Technology certification handbook and examination rules — Sections 4–5 and Anlage A
How to prepare, matched to the objectives
Use Anlage A to organise your review by objective. For recall objectives, practise explaining the terms; for application objectives, work through the types of use-case tasks the handbook names.
Work through Anlage A objective by objective and sort each one by its level. Recall items reward flashcards and self-quizzing in both directions: given a term, produce the explanation; given an explanation, name the term. Application items reward scenario practice, such as matching a blockchain infrastructure to a described situation, ordering the steps of use-case development, or choosing the arguments that would convince a given customer.
Include self-sovereign identity, NFTs and wallets, memecoins and DeFi, IPFS and data spaces, governance, and legal and GDPR aspects in your coverage checklist. Your Web3 application concept can also support revision because formulating and presenting a use case is a named objective. Discuss its assumptions and limitations with your training provider.
Official sources: Fraunhofer Distributed Ledger Technology certification handbook and examination rules — Sections 4–5 and Anlage A
Validity, recertification, and proper use
The handbook ties expiry to three years minus one day after the last examination. Recertification requires evidence of relevant professional experience and continuing education; check the dates on your certificate when planning the application.
The certificate is issued after you pass and the prerequisites are verified. Its validity begins with the certification decision and ends three years minus one day after the last examination. Those dates may differ, so use the stated expiry date rather than adding three years to when the certificate arrives. The handbook specifies no surveillance during the validity period.
Recertification requires two proofs from within the certification period: at least 1.5 years of professional experience in the profile's field — for example, an employer certificate — and participation in established DLT events or conferences totaling at least 10 hours of specialist talks or workshop-style sessions. Talks you presented yourself count. You submit attendance certificates and an agenda showing the DLT-relevant content.
File the recertification application between two and two and a half years after certification, so at the latest six months before expiry. In cases such as serious illness or parental leave, a deferral of up to six months is possible on written request, and the head of the certification body decides on exceptions. If the requirements are not met, the certificate expires and must be newly acquired; you can then request an unrestricted certificate confirming that you passed the exam.
Usage rules are strict. You may describe yourself as a certified Blockchain Professional (Basic Level), but the certificate document remains the property of the certification body, and the Fraunhofer logo may only be used as part of the complete certificate.
- Validity begins with the certification decision and ends three years minus one day after the last examination.
- Recertification proof: 1.5 years of professional experience plus 10 hours of established DLT events or conferences
- Application window: two to two and a half years after certification
- If requirements are missed: certificate expires; a pass confirmation remains available on request
Official sources: Fraunhofer Distributed Ledger Technology certification handbook and examination rules — Sections 4–5 and Anlage A
Before you register: a short checklist
Download the handbook, confirm dates and format on the program page, arrange the practical task, and contact the certification body about fees and exam language.
Use this checklist to organise registration and preparation, then read the full objective list in Anlage A.
- Download the handbook and read Anlage A in full; it is the exam's objective list
- Check current exam dates and whether your date runs in person or online-supervised on the program page
- Arrange the practical task — a three-to-five-page Web3 application concept — with a training provider the certification body recognizes
- Prepare the written application with your personal details and target profile
- Contact the certification body directly about fees and the exam language before registering
Official sources: Fraunhofer Distributed Ledger Technology certification handbook and examination rules — Sections 4–5 and Anlage A; Distributed Ledger Technology / Blockchain — Blockchain Professional (Basic Level) program page
Official sources
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