The Certified Cryptoasset Anti-Financial Crime Specialist (CCAS) from ACAMS tests whether you can apply AML and sanctions principles to virtual assets. It suits compliance staff at exchanges and fintechs, bank teams handling crypto exposure, and investigators.
What it covers
- Fundamentals: public and private keys, custodial and unhosted wallets, UTXO and account models, stablecoins, DeFi and smart contracts.
- Typologies: mixers, chain hopping, ransomware, darknet markets, investment and romance scams, sanctions evasion.
- Regulation: the FATF standard for virtual assets and VASPs, the Travel Rule, and regional frameworks such as the EU's MiCA and transfer of funds rules.
- Controls: blockchain analytics, wallet screening, direct and indirect exposure, risk-scoring transactions.
As always, confirm the current exam format in the ACAMS handbook.
Preparing well
- If you come from traditional AML, spend your first week on the technology. Many questions assume you can tell what a transaction on a public blockchain does and doesn't reveal.
- If you come from crypto, spend your first week on the AML framework: the risk-based approach, CDD, suspicious activity reporting.
- Practise red-flag scenarios: rapid movement through many wallets, exposure to sanctioned addresses, peel chains.
Try the free CCAS diagnostic and the CCAS flashcards.