Forensics Board Association

This course traces the cryptographic foundations that enabled modern digital currency, from early anonymity research through the Bitcoin whitepaper. It examines how cryptographic tools evolved independently of finance, ultimately converging with monetary failures to enable decentralized digital money. Attendees will learn how successive cryptographic innovations addressed problems of trust, privacy, and control. The course clarifies why Bitcoin emerged as an architectural response to both financial instability and longstanding limits of centralized digital systems. This presentation, The Origins of Crypto, offers a comprehensive exploration of the cryptographic innovations that led to the creation of Bitcoin. It covers a 26-year timeline from 1982 to 2008, tracing how a small group of mathematicians, computer scientists, and privacy advocates systematically built the technical and ideological foundations for decentralized digital currency. The course is designed with financial forensic experts and legal professionals in mind, because understanding the origins and design philosophy of cryptocurrency is essential for anyone who investigates, prosecutes, or adjudicates cases involving digital assets. Throughout this presentation, the key figures whose ideas and code made Bitcoin possible are introduced, along with an exploration of why each innovation matters for professional practice today. The recurring themes of privacy, decentralization, and distrust of central authority deserve close attention, as these are not incidental features of cryptocurrency but rather core design goals. Recognizing these themes will enhance effectiveness in forensic and legal work involving digital assets. Read more

This course explains how classic investment fraud indicators have been adapted to cryptocurrency investment scams. Although based on a 2023 article, the material remains relevant because the underlying scam mechanics such as psychological pressure, false credibility, fake platforms, and withdrawal obstruction have not changed. The course equips learners to recognize these persistent fraud patterns regardless of market conditions or technology. This course trains professionals to identify cryptocurrency investment scams by applying traditional fraud indicators to modern crypto contexts.  Its relevance does not depend on dates, tokens, or platforms; it lies in recognizing stable behavioral and structural scam patterns that remain active today.  These indicators continue to appear in forensic investigations, litigation, and victim interviews. Read more

This course examines the historical evolution of money from early fiat experiments to the modern pure fiat system. It traces how governments, banks, and war shaped currency through repeated cycles of debasement, confiscation, and centralization, providing essential context for understanding modern financial systems and their limitations. Attendees will learn to identify major monetary milestones, recognize recurring patterns of currency failure, and explain how political power and trust influence money.  The course equips learners to interpret historical monetary events in a way that informs modern financial analysis and forensic investigations.  Upon completion, attendees should be able to summarize the currency timeline, construct a coherent narrative linking money and cryptography, and present historically grounded explanations suitable for investigative reports, courtroom testimony, or professional education. Read more

In this course, attendees will identify, recognize, and locate financial records in Ledger wallet software, which requires the use of a Ledger hardware dongle device (known as a hardware wallet). This course is part of the Forensics Board membership and is available at no cost to all Forensics Board Association members. This course identifies types of financial records available to an account holder when using Ledger wallet hardware and software. This is not an exhaustive list of all records available through this account. This course will identify how to obtain, export, and produce records that are sufficient for determining asset balances and value and for conducting forensic analysis.  Read more

This is an overview of the CPF credential issued and maintained by the Forensics Board Association.  You can become a member of the Forensics Board Association through the website and prepare to take the CPF exam or other training.     Read more

In this course, attendees will restore a wallet using seed words (aka recovery phrase or mnemonic), and will identify, recognize, and locate financial records using multichain wallet software, MetaMask.  This course is part of the Forensics Board Association membership and is available at no cost to all Forensics Board Association members. Welcome to Exporting Wallet Records using MetaMask! This course identifies types of financial records available to an account holder when using MetaMask wallet software to access wallets on different blockchains, also known as networks.  This is not an exhaustive list of all financial records available for assets held in wallets or using MetaMask software. This course will identify how to obtain, export, and produce records that are sufficient for determining asset balances and value and for conducting forensic analysis.  It is important to note that transactions between blockchain addresses are contained on blockchains, which are largely viewable by the public once an address is known; however, details for complex transactions may not be equally accessible to the account holder and a public viewer.  In that regard, if sufficient details for transactions are contained in the public ledger, then transaction records may not be necessary to export from wallet software.  If sufficient details are not contained in the public ledger, such as details related to DeFi services, NFT sales identification, or other interactions with smart contracts, then transaction details may be more accessible by the account holder and may need to be obtained using wallet software.  Obtaining sufficient transaction records for non-public transaction details is outside the scope of this basic course and is covered in more advanced courses. Read more