You can see it againUnder pressure people bring back shapes and positions long after the wording has gone.
Picture superiority · Shepard 1967, Standing 1973
EC-COUNCILEC-Council Blockchain Developer Certification
The EC-Council Blockchain Developer Certification (BDC) validates your ability to build secure, scalable blockchain applications across Web3 and enterprise ecosystems. You'll master smart contracts, dApps, and multi-platform development on Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric, and R3 Corda, with a strong emphasis on security-first practices and AI-enhanced development. This hands-on, lab-intensive program prepares you for in-demand roles like blockchain developer, Web3 developer, and smart contract engineer.
Exam formatMultiple choice and performance-based
DeliveryPearson VUE
Free questions2530
Content last reviewed 30 July 2026 · Up to date
The certification
What EC-Council Blockchain Developer Certification proves, and what it asks of you
What this certification covers, who it is written for, and what the exam itself looks like on the day.
9domains
57objectives
452concepts
What it is
What this certification is
What it validates, who it is written for, and the experience it assumes.
About this certification
The EC-Council Blockchain Developer Certification (BDC) is a comprehensive program that transforms you into a job-ready blockchain professional with in-demand development and security skills. It equips you to build smart contracts, decentralized applications (dApps), and real-world blockchain solutions across Web3 and enterprise ecosystems. You gain hands-on expertise in Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric, and R3 Corda, preparing you for both public and private blockchain opportunities.
The program emphasizes security-first development, helping you prevent vulnerabilities and build trusted blockchain systems. You also learn how AI enhances blockchain development through automated coding, security analysis, testing, and performance optimization. With practical labs and future-focused topics like DeFi, tokenization, and advanced blockchain innovations, BDC prepares you to lead in the next era of digital transformation.
Who it’s for
This certification is for developers and IT professionals who want to build a career in blockchain development, focusing on creating smart contracts, decentralized applications, and enterprise blockchain solutions. It is ideal for those seeking roles such as blockchain developer, Web3 developer, smart contract engineer, and blockchain solutions architect. You should have a foundational understanding of programming concepts and a keen interest in blockchain technology. The program is designed to take you from core blockchain principles to advanced topics, including AI-enhanced development and security-first practices, making it suitable for both aspiring and experienced developers looking to specialize.
Recommended experience
While EC-Council does not mandate specific prerequisites, a background in programming and familiarity with basic blockchain concepts will help you get the most from this lab-intensive program. Programming experience in languages like Python, Java, or JavaScript; Basic understanding of blockchain technology and distributed ledgers; Familiarity with development tools and environments; Interest in smart contract development and decentralized applications
The syllabus
What you’ll learn
Every domain and objective EC-Council measures, with the weight they carry on the exam.
The official EC-Council exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
Blockchain Fundamentals and Architecture
- Blockchain Technology Concepts and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)
- Blockchain Ecosystem and Use Cases
- Blockchain Architecture, Node Infrastructure, and Types
- Data and Transaction Flow in Blockchain
- Network Communication and Protocol Layers
- Governance, Upgrades, and Forks
- Blockchain Scaling Solutions
Cryptography and Security Foundations
- Cryptographic Principles
- Symmetric Cryptography and Key Algorithms
- Asymmetric Cryptography and Key Algorithms
- Cryptographic Hash Functions and Their Uses
- Advanced Cryptographic Mechanisms
- Merkle Tree-Based Transaction Verification
Bitcoin and Consensus Mechanisms
- Bitcoin and Bitcoin Blockchain Architecture
- Bitcoin Network and Its Transactions
- Bitcoin Mining, Forking, and Scalability Solutions
- Proof of Work (PoW) and Its Variations
- Proof of Stake (PoS) and Derivative Protocols
- Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) Mechanisms
- Alternative and Hybrid Consensus Mechanisms
Cryptomining, Tokenization, and Digital Assets
- Cryptomining and the Mining Ecosystem
- Mining Techniques
- Tokenization
- Types of Tokens and Digital Assets
- Token Issuance, Token Economics, and Market Dynamics
- Use Cases and Future Trends in Tokenization
Ethereum and Smart Contract Development
- Ethereum's Purpose, Ecosystem, and Evolution
- Ethereum Virtual Machine
- Ethereum's Transactions, Validation, and Upgrades
- Solidity Concepts for Contract Development
- Ethereum Standards and Proposal Processes
- Contract Lifecycle: Design, Development, and Deployment
- Testing, Debugging, and Auditing Contracts
Development Tools, Web3, and dApps
- Blockchain Development Frameworks (Truffle, Hardhat)
- Blockchain IDEs and Plugins
- Blockchain Deployment and Monitoring Tools
- Web 3.0 Ecosystem and Components
- Building User-Friendly dApp Interfaces
- Deploy and Manage dApps
Blockchain Security and DeFi Development
- Attack Surfaces in Blockchain Ecosystems
- Network Layer, Consensus, Smart Contract, and Node Security Best Practices
- Auditing, Testing, and Monitoring in Blockchain Security
- Incident Response and Risk Mitigation
- DeFi Protocols and Their Financial Functions
- DeFi Smart Contracts and Governance
Enterprise Blockchain Platforms
- Hyperledger Fabric Architecture and Network Creation
- Chaincode Development, Deployment, and Lifecycle Management
- R3 Corda Architecture and Network Design
- CorDapp Development and Lifecycle
- Enterprise Blockchain Platforms and Industry-Specific Use Cases
- Blockchain Business Models and ROI
Advanced Concepts and Future Innovations
- Architectural and Protocol Innovations
- Consensus and Scalability Innovations
- Privacy and Zero-Knowledge Innovations
- Interoperability Innovations
- Blockchain Integration with Emerging Technologies
- Quantum Computing and Blockchain
On the day
The exam itself
Everything EC-Council publishes about sitting it, and nothing we inferred.
Prerequisites
No mandatory prerequisites — this certification has no required predecessor exam or credential.
CertificationEC-Council Blockchain Developer Certification
Exam formatMultiple choice and performance-based
DeliveryPearson VUE
LanguagesEnglish
After you pass
Where this credential goes next
The path EC-Council lays out, how the credential is kept, and where to book.
Step-by-step path to EC-Council Blockchain Developer Certification
Credential earnedEC-Council Blockchain Developer Certification Certification Lifecycle status
This certification is currently active and available. EC-Council maintains this certification to validate current skills and industry relevance.
Exam status: ActiveMaintained by EC-Council
Exam registration
Register for the exam through Pearson VUE, EC-Council’s authorized testing partner.
Schedule your examVisit the official EC-Council certification page for exam policies and requirements.
View the official pageYour coach
And when you are serious, your coach Pip takes over
Your coach in the app reads what you have answered with the book closed and tells you one thing to do tonight. It will not count an answer you gave with the page open, and it will tell you when you are not ready.
See how the coach worksBefore you book
Questions people ask
Is the BDC exam hands-on or lab-based?
Yes. The BDC program is lab-intensive, with more than 40% of training time dedicated to hands-on labs. The exam includes performance-based components that test your practical skills in real blockchain environments.
What job roles does the Blockchain Developer Certification prepare me for?
The certification prepares you for roles such as Blockchain Developer, Web3 Developer, Smart Contract Engineer, Blockchain Solutions Architect, Blockchain Security Engineer, and Blockchain Integration Engineer.
Do I need to complete any other EC-Council certification before taking BDC?
No. EC-Council does not require any prerequisite certifications for the BDC. You can take the exam directly, though prior programming experience is recommended.
How does the BDC certification relate to other EC-Council blockchain certifications?
BDC is one of three blockchain certifications offered by EC-Council, alongside the Blockchain Fintech Certification (BFC) and the Blockchain Business Leader Certification (BBLC). BDC focuses on technical development skills, while BFC targets financial applications and BBLC targets business leadership.
What is the retake policy for the BDC exam?
EC-Council's standard retake policy applies: you must wait a specified period between attempts. For exact waiting periods, refer to the official EC-Council exam policies.
Are there any testing accommodations for candidates with disabilities?
EC-Council and Pearson VUE provide accommodations for candidates with disabilities. You should contact Pearson VUE directly to request accommodations before scheduling your exam.
How soon will I receive my exam results?
For computer-based exams, results are typically available immediately after the exam. For performance-based exams, results may take longer. Check with the testing provider for specific timelines.
Can I recertify by passing a different EC-Council exam?
EC-Council certifications require renewal through continuing education credits. Passing a higher-level exam may contribute to renewal, but specific policies for BDC are not published on the official page.
Information freshness · Content last reviewed on 2026-07-30 Up to date
Practice free questions 2530 questions, free, no account needed.
The curriculum
The whole exam, mapped and written
Every domain, every objective, and every concept EC-Council measures — each one written out.
9domains
57objectives
452concepts
527free pages
The domains, and what sits inside them
Every objective below is a page you can open and practise now, without an account.
The official EC-Council exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
1Blockchain Fundamentals and Architecture351 questions
Blockchain Technology Concepts and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)10 concepts · 10 pagesOpen →Blockchain Ecosystem and Use Cases8 concepts · 10 pagesOpen →Blockchain Architecture, Node Infrastructure, and Types6 concepts · 9 pagesOpen →Data and Transaction Flow in Blockchain10 concepts · 11 pagesOpen →Network Communication and Protocol Layers5 concepts · 10 pagesOpen →Governance, Upgrades, and Forks7 concepts · 10 pagesOpen →Blockchain Scaling Solutions13 concepts · 13 pagesOpen →
2Cryptography and Security Foundations245 questions
Cryptographic Principles6 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →Symmetric Cryptography and Key Algorithms5 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →Asymmetric Cryptography and Key Algorithms6 concepts · 9 pagesOpen →Cryptographic Hash Functions and Their Uses10 concepts · 11 pagesOpen →Advanced Cryptographic Mechanisms1 concepts · 7 pagesOpen →Merkle Tree-Based Transaction Verification9 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →
3Bitcoin and Consensus Mechanisms301 questions
Bitcoin and Bitcoin Blockchain Architecture9 concepts · 10 pagesOpen →Bitcoin Network and Its Transactions6 concepts · 9 pagesOpen →Bitcoin Mining, Forking, and Scalability Solutions13 concepts · 11 pagesOpen →Proof of Work (PoW) and Its Variations7 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →Proof of Stake (PoS) and Derivative Protocols8 concepts · 10 pagesOpen →Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) Mechanisms7 concepts · 7 pagesOpen →Alternative and Hybrid Consensus Mechanisms3 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →
4Cryptomining, Tokenization, and Digital Assets247 questions
Cryptomining and the Mining Ecosystem11 concepts · 11 pagesOpen →Mining Techniques11 concepts · 10 pagesOpen →Tokenization5 concepts · 7 pagesOpen →Types of Tokens and Digital Assets6 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →Token Issuance, Token Economics, and Market Dynamics7 concepts · 9 pagesOpen →Use Cases and Future Trends in Tokenization3 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →
5Ethereum and Smart Contract Development286 questions
Ethereum's Purpose, Ecosystem, and Evolution3 concepts · 9 pagesOpen →Ethereum Virtual Machine7 concepts · 9 pagesOpen →Ethereum's Transactions, Validation, and Upgrades12 concepts · 9 pagesOpen →Solidity Concepts for Contract Development10 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →Ethereum Standards and Proposal Processes8 concepts · 9 pagesOpen →Contract Lifecycle: Design, Development, and Deployment7 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →Testing, Debugging, and Auditing Contracts9 concepts · 9 pagesOpen →
6Development Tools, Web3, and dApps275 questions
Blockchain Development Frameworks (Truffle, Hardhat)12 concepts · 11 pagesOpen →Blockchain IDEs and Plugins8 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →Blockchain Deployment and Monitoring Tools9 concepts · 9 pagesOpen →Web 3.0 Ecosystem and Components12 concepts · 10 pagesOpen →Building User-Friendly dApp Interfaces7 concepts · 11 pagesOpen →Deploy and Manage dApps10 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →
7Blockchain Security and DeFi Development288 questions
Attack Surfaces in Blockchain Ecosystems7 concepts · 10 pagesOpen →Network Layer, Consensus, Smart Contract, and Node Security Best Practices6 concepts · 9 pagesOpen →Auditing, Testing, and Monitoring in Blockchain Security9 concepts · 11 pagesOpen →Incident Response and Risk Mitigation7 concepts · 11 pagesOpen →DeFi Protocols and Their Financial Functions12 concepts · 11 pagesOpen →DeFi Smart Contracts and Governance6 concepts · 9 pagesOpen →
8Enterprise Blockchain Platforms244 questions
Hyperledger Fabric Architecture and Network Creation16 concepts · 12 pagesOpen →Chaincode Development, Deployment, and Lifecycle Management7 concepts · 7 pagesOpen →R3 Corda Architecture and Network Design4 concepts · 7 pagesOpen →CorDapp Development and Lifecycle9 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →Enterprise Blockchain Platforms and Industry-Specific Use Cases4 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →Blockchain Business Models and ROI8 concepts · 10 pagesOpen →
9Advanced Concepts and Future Innovations293 questions
Architectural and Protocol Innovations2 concepts · 7 pagesOpen →Consensus and Scalability Innovations11 concepts · 11 pagesOpen →Privacy and Zero-Knowledge Innovations5 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →Interoperability Innovations6 concepts · 11 pagesOpen →Blockchain Integration with Emerging Technologies20 concepts · 15 pagesOpen →Quantum Computing and Blockchain7 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →
Not a table of contents
Every line on this map already opens
In front of every objective the practice pages are already there, free and without an account. This is one objective, opened.
Blockchain Technology Concepts and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)10 pagesOpen →
Free in front of it
46 questions on this objective, five to a page. Every range above is a real page, open now, with no account.
Reading the map is not the same as knowing the ground
The curriculum tells you what is on the exam. Proving you know it is a different job — and it is the one the closed-book run does.
Free questions
2530 questions. No account, no card.
The whole bank is open. 5 questions to a page, every answer explained, and a discussion thread on each one.
2530questions
527pages
57objectives
Freealways
Start anywhereBlockchain Technology Concepts and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) 46 questions · 10 pages
Browse by domain
Every objective, and every page range, is a link — so you can pick up exactly where you left off.
1Blockchain Fundamentals and Architecture351 questions
2Cryptography and Security Foundations245 questions
3Bitcoin and Consensus Mechanisms301 questions
4Cryptomining, Tokenization, and Digital Assets247 questions
5Ethereum and Smart Contract Development286 questions
6Development Tools, Web3, and dApps275 questions
7Blockchain Security and DeFi Development288 questions
8Enterprise Blockchain Platforms244 questions
9Advanced Concepts and Future Innovations293 questions
What a practice page gives you
1Five to a page
Short enough to finish, long enough to matter.
2Every answer explained
Not only which one is right — why the others are wrong.
3A discussion on each
Ask, answer, and vote. Every question has its own thread.
A question, and the idea behind it
Every question comes from a concept
These are not trivia. Each one is written against a concept in the book, so when you get one wrong there is somewhere to go and find out why.
The visual book
See it once. Carry it into the exam.
The pages shown here come from our AI-900 book — an example of how each concept is written in plain language and, where the idea needs one, drawn as a full page you can take in at a glance.
452concepts
2530free questions
Why a picture, and not another paragraph
Three reasons, and each one is a real finding rather than a slogan.
You can see it againThe whole idea at onceWhere it starts, what happens in the middle, what comes out, and the mistake to avoid.
Multimedia principle · MayerThe look-alikes sit togetherThe pairs the exam tests are drawn side by side, so the difference is seen, not told.
Dual coding · PaivioWhat one page is made of
You are never asked to read a poster here — only to see how one is built. After that, every other page is legible at a glance.
1A numbered strip on top
The idea as a sequence, followed with a finger before a word is read.
2Panels for the parts
What it is, how the machine learns it, when it is the right tool.
3The trap, framed
The distinction the exam tests, given its own box instead of buried in prose.
4One line at the bottom
The sentence to carry into the exam room.
Open book, on purpose
Answer it with the picture beside you
This is the part that teaches. The illustration and the written explanation stay where they are while you work, so a scenario stops being a memory test and becomes something you can simply look at.
It teaches · it does not count
A smartphone uses AI to unlock when the owner looks at the camera. Which AI capability is being used?
AImage classification
BFacial recognition
COptical character recognition
DObject detection
Look at the five steps. Detect finds a face, align straightens it, encode turns it into numbers, search compares it with a stored face, and decide answers one question: is this the same person? Classification would only say “a face”. Detection would only draw a box. Neither decides whose.
Then the page shuts, and it starts counting
The same questions come back with the book closed — that run is the one that counts. After it, your coach picks one thing for tonight, sized to the time you have, and brings pages back before you lose them.
Testing effect · Roediger & Karpicke 2006 · spacing effect · Cepeda et al. 2006
Official resources
Straight from EC-Council
Where the exam is defined, scheduled and scored.
1official link
452concepts mapped
The source
EC-Council’s own pages
We link to them rather than repeat them, so nothing here goes stale behind them.
Checked against the source
Every objective on the official EC-Council outline already has questions here
We build from the official skills outline, not from a summary of it — 57 objectives, 452 concepts written under them, and free questions against every one. When EC-Council changes the outline, this page changes with it.
57objectives on the outline→452concepts written→2530free questions
An official page tells you what will be asked. It cannot tell you what you will get right.
That is the only question worth answering the night before, and no link answers it. You answer it by taking the questions with the book closed, and seeing what comes back.