RIA Digital Assets Council Announces Partnership with New York Institute of Finance and Faculty for RIADAC Certificate in Blockchain & Digital Assets® Program

GREAT FALLS, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES, March 22, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The RIA Digital Assets Council announced today its partnership with the New York Institute of Finance to offer the Certificate in Blockchain and Digital Assets^®, a comprehensive, 10-module online self-study program for financial advisors. The New York Institute of Finance was formed almost 100 years ago by the New York Stock Exchange and is a global leader in delivering education and training for the financial services industry. Each year the Institute delivers training to more than 50,000 individuals in over 125 countries.

Launching April 30, the Certificate in Blockchain and Digital Assets^® program gives financial advisors fluency in blockchain technology, bitcoin and other digital assets, including tax, regulatory and compliance issues. Advisors will become proficient in key practice management areas, as they learn the options for adding digital assets to client portfolios and how to explain digital assets to clients.

“NYIF is the ideal partner as we launch this program,” said RIA Digital Assets Council President Don Friedman. “By pairing RIADAC’s content with NYIF's online platform, our certificate program’s enrollees will benefit from a unique and exceptional experience.”

Michael Lee, NYIF Managing Director of Corporate Development, said, “RIADAC brings timely content and practical management strategies to the community of industry-leading financial advisors as well as to our NYIF community. We are excited to form this partnership with RIADAC, one of the most relevant companies in the growing digital assets category, on this groundbreaking certificate program.”

RIADAC also announced the roster of its distinguished faculty for the program, led by leading experts in the blockchain, digital asset and financial advisory fields. The program is expected to offer 10 CE credits.

“We are very excited about this outstanding faculty,” said Ric Edelman, RIADAC’s founder. “As an educational source, one RIADAC goal is to connect advisors with top experts in the digital asset space.” He added that hundreds of U.S. financial advisors are already enrolled in the inaugural class. The program has also attracted advisors from France, Great Britain, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Africa and South Korea.

The certificate program faculty members are:

•Anders Brownworth, former blockchain lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Principal Architect in applied research in the field of central bank digital currency projects. His module covers digital assets and digital currency. Mr. Brownworth holds several telecom patents and helped create Republic Wireless, a WIFI/cellular hybrid smartphone service.

•Dr. W. Scott Stornetta, widely considered the co-inventor of blockchain technology. His module focuses on blockchain/distributed ledger technology, the underlying technology for bitcoin and all digital assets. Dr. Stornetta and his research were prominently cited in three of the eight citations in Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin Whitepaper. He is currently Chief Scientist and Partner at Yugen Partners.

•Del Wright, Jr., author of A Short & Happy Guide to Bitcoin, Blockchain, and Crypto. His module is devoted to regulatory and tax issues related to digital assets. Mr. Wright is Professor of Finance, Business and Tax at the University of Missouri - Kansas City Law School, where his research focuses on the intersection of cryptocurrency, financial regulation and tax.

•Shawnna Hoffman, formerly IBM’s Leader of Global Blockchain Strategy. Her module reveals how blockchain technology is revolutionizing commerce on a global scale, with an emphasis on real-world use cases. Shawnna is a sought-after Subject Matter Expert for AI and Blockchain, has spoken at the United Nations Summit on Blockchain for Impact, and chaired the CFTC’s Distributed Ledger Technology and Market Infrastructure Subcommittee.

•Brian Hamburger and Dan Bernstein co-present a module on compliance and risk issues for RIAs regarding digital assets. A prominent advocate for advisors, Mr. Hamburger is Founder, President and CEO of MarketCounsel Consulting, the leading business and regulatory compliance consultancy to RIAs. Mr. Bernstein is Chief Regulatory Counsel at MarketCounsel and responsible for thought leadership, content development, and management of the firm’s regulatory professionals. He has extensive experience in providing legal services to RIAs, institutions in the securities industry and fintech companies.

•Ray Sclafani is President and Founder of ClientWise LLC, the premier coaching and training company exclusively serving the financial services industry. Mr. Sclafani’s module explores the digital asset investments available to financial advisors and their clients, and explains how to buy, where to custody and much more. Mr. Sclafani founded ClientWise after 20 years at AllianceBernstein. ClientWise’s unique coaching programs and credentialed coaches help advisors and their firms reach the next level of professional excellence and financial success with greater focus and ease.

•Lacey Shrum, Founder of Smart Kx and attorney at Vela Wood, will teach advisors about the operational considerations of advising on digital assets. In her module, she’ll review such issues as firm policies, client communication, documentation and billing. Ms. Shrum is a compliance consultant who speaks frequently to professional organizations, private businesses and the financial services community on blockchain technology and digital assets. Her company, Smart Kx, helps RIAs automate the client contract and fee calculation process, ensure fee accuracy and maintain compliance for advisors recommending traditional and digital assets.

•Lex Sokolin is one of the premier minds in decentralized finance and the next generation of financial services. His module will explore the broad blockchain ecosystem with a focus on second layer protocols, tokens and DeFi. Mr. Sokolin is Co-Head of Global Fintech at ConsenSys, and is a futurist and entrepreneur working on the next generation of financial services for blockchain technology which is building the infrastructure, applications and practices that enable a decentralized world. His work emphasizes emerging digital assets, public and private enterprise blockchain solutions, and decentralized finance and autonomous organizations.

•Jack Tatar will lead the module on asset class correlation and diversification, risk management, investment pricing and return potential for digital assets. Mr. Tatar is an expert in this field and co-author of Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor's Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond. As Managing Partner at Doyle Capital Mgmt, he is an early-stage investor in companies within the transformative technology sectors of digital assets, blockchain, distributed computing, AI and more.

•Ric Edelman was ranked three times as the nation’s #1 Independent Financial Advisor by Barron’s and founded the nation’s largest RIA with $260 billion in AUM. Mr. Edelman is in both Research magazine’s and Barron’s Financial Advisor Halls of Fame, and recipient of IARFC’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Investment Advisor, RIABiz and InvestmentNews all named him one of the most influential people in the investment management profession. Mr. Edelman is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of 10 books on personal finance with more than one million copies in print in seven languages. He is also the founder of RIADAC. He presents two modules – an introduction to digital assets and a detailed examination of portfolio construction and investment management.

For more information about the certificate program and to enroll, visit riadac.com.

About RIADAC

The RIA Digital Assets Council is dedicated to advancing the awareness, knowledge and understanding of blockchain and digital assets by Registered Investment Advisors so they can give their clients the advice they need about this new and transformational asset class. Advisors can further their education by enrolling in RIADAC’s Certificate in Blockchain and Digital Assets^®.

Janice Murphy
RIADAC
+1 603-957-2727
janice@riadac.com