Quiz: Institutional Crypto - Digital Finance

Question 1

Which custody architecture uses distributed key shares so the private key is never fully reconstructed?

(A) MPC
(B) HSM
(C) Hot wallet
(D) Cold storage

Answer: (A) : Multi-Party Computation splits the key; threshold signatures sign without reconstruction.

Question 2

What FIPS certification level is required for enterprise-grade Hardware Security Modules?

(A) FIPS 140-1, an older certification standard that predates modern HSM requirements and is no longer accepted for financial services key management
(B) FIPS 200
(C) FIPS 800-53
(D) FIPS 140-2 / 140-3

Answer: (D) : FIPS 140-2 (or current FIPS 140-3) is the standard for HSMs in financial services.

Question 3

What percentage of assets do best-practice institutional custodians typically hold in cold storage?

(A) 50%
(B) 70%
(C) 90%+
(D) 100%

Answer: (C) : Most custodians hold >90% in cold storage; <10% in warm/hot for operational liquidity.

Question 4

Which firm reported over \1 trillion in transaction volume using MPC-based custody?

(A) BitGo
(B) Anchorage
(C) Fireblocks
(D) Fidelity Digital Assets

Answer: (C) : Fireblocks uses MPC-based custody and reported \1T+ in transaction volume.

Question 5

What is the approximate AUM of Coinbase Institutional custody (2024)?

(A) \50B
(B) \64B
(C) \100B
(D) \130B

Answer: (D) : Coinbase Institutional leads the market with approximately \130B in assets under custody.

Question 6

What was the AUM of BlackRock BUIDL as of December 2024?

(A) \500M
(B) \1.2B
(C) \2.9B
(D) \5.0B

Answer: (C) : BUIDL reached \2.9B by December 2024, making it the largest tokenised fund.

Question 7

On which blockchain was BlackRock BUIDL launched in March 2024?

(A) Solana
(B) Polygon
(C) Stellar
(D) Ethereum

Answer: (D) : BUIDL was launched on Ethereum via the Securitize platform.

Question 8

Which fund was the first US-registered mutual fund to use blockchain for share record-keeping?

(A) BlackRock BUIDL
(B) Franklin FOBXX
(C) Ondo OUSG
(D) Superstate USTB

Answer: (B) : Franklin FOBXX (2021) was the first SEC-registered mutual fund with blockchain as share registrar.

Question 9

JPMorgan Kinexys was formerly known as:

(A) JPMorgan Quorum
(B) JPMorgan Onyx
(C) JPMorgan Digital
(D) JPMorgan DeFi

Answer: (B) : Kinexys was formerly branded as JPMorgan Onyx; rebranded in 2024.

Question 10

What daily settlement volume does Kinexys process in repo transactions (2024)?

(A) \100M
(B) \500M
(C) \1B+
(D) \10B+

Answer: (C) : Kinexys reported \1B+ daily repo settlement volume in 2024.

Question 11

What is the total on-chain RWA market size as of early 2025 (rwa.xyz)?

(A) \1.5B
(B) \7B
(C) \15B
(D) \150B

Answer: (C) : Approximately \15B in real-world assets deployed on-chain as of early 2025.

Question 12

Which is the largest on-chain RWA category by value in 2025?

(A) Real estate
(B) Corporate bonds
(C) Private credit
(D) US Treasuries

Answer: (D) : US Treasuries dominate on-chain RWA with approximately \9B, driven by BUIDL and similar funds.

Question 13

What Swiss legislation created "ledger-based securities" as a legal asset class?

(A) FinSA (2020), the Swiss financial services act covering disclosure requirements, prospectuses, and client classification rules for investment products across all asset classes including structured products
(B) MiCA (2024)
(C) BVG (1983)
(D) DLT Act (2021)

Answer: (D) : The Swiss DLT Act (February 2021) created the legal category of ledger-based securities (Registerwertrechte).

Question 14

Which regulatory framework governs investment categories for Swiss Pensionskassen (pension funds)?

(A) BVV2 / OAK BV
(B) MiCA
(C) AIFMD
(D) Basel III capital adequacy rules developed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, which impose a 1250% risk weight on most crypto holdings and apply globally to bank capital requirements

Answer: (A) : BVV2 (Verordnung über die berufliche Vorsorge) / OAK BV guidelines govern Swiss pension investments. MiCA is EU-only.

Question 15

Under BVV2, what "other investments" category cap typically applies to alternative assets like crypto?

(A) 5%
(B) 10%
(C) 15%
(D) 25%

Answer: (C) : BVV2 Art.~55 "other investments" category typically caps alternative assets at 15% of portfolio.

Question 16

What event in January 2024 accelerated institutional crypto adoption significantly?

(A) US spot Bitcoin ETF approvals
(B) BUIDL launch
(C) Ethereum Dencun upgrade
(D) MiCA implementation, the EU crypto framework covering 27 member states (full force December 2024)

Answer: (A) : US spot Bitcoin ETFs were approved January 11, 2024, opening regulated exposure to pensions and SWFs.

Question 17

SAB 121 (rescinded February 2025) was a rule that required:

(A) Banks to hold crypto assets on balance sheet at full cost
(B) Crypto exchanges to register with CFTC
(C) Stablecoin issuers to hold 100% reserves
(D) DeFi protocols to implement on-chain KYC and AML screening for all wallet interactions

Answer: (A) : SAB 121 required banks to hold customers' crypto on their own balance sheet, making custody economically unattractive.

Question 18

Under Basel III, what risk weight applies to most crypto assets (Group 2)?

(A) 100%
(B) 250%
(C) 750%
(D) 1250%

Answer: (D) : Basel III assigns a 1250% risk weight to Group 2 crypto assets (most cryptocurrencies), making bank holdings very capital-intensive.

Question 19

Which network combines Goldman Sachs, BNY Mellon, and Deutsche Boerse for institutional DeFi?

(A) Aave Arc
(B) Canton Network
(C) Morpho Institutional
(D) Centrifuge Prime

Answer: (B) : Canton Network (2023) uses privacy-preserving smart contracts (Daml) for institutional collateral management.

Question 20

Which option is most compliant for a Swiss Pensionskasse seeking Bitcoin exposure (2024-2025)?

(A) Direct self-custody via hardware wallets requiring own key management infrastructure and cold storage
(B) US Bitcoin ETF via IB
(C) SIX-listed Bitcoin ETP
(D) BUIDL tokenised fund

Answer: (C) : SIX-listed crypto ETPs are FINMA-regulated, exchange-traded, and the clearest BVV2 Art.~55 fit for Swiss pension funds.