The years are the full sequence. These are routes through the same courses for a learner who knows what they came for. Each states what it ends in, including where that is short of a gate.
Protect what I hold
67 lessons · 31.9 hrs
Every holder. Most people should take this and stop.
Custody, keys, signing, the threat model, third-party access, continuity and verification. Year One in full, because the Custody Practical examines all of it.
O100 F101 F102 F103 F104 F105 F106 F107 F108 F109 F110 F111
Ends in The Custody Practical, and the XDRIP Academy Certificate in Self-Custody (XA-C).
Decide whether to invest
104 lessons · 52 hrs
Investors who will not trade.
After Year One: how a market clears, what an asset is worth, where the data comes from, how to write an investment policy and how to measure your own returns. Chart reading is available in S203 and is not required.
O100 F101 F102 F103 F104 F105 F106 F107 F108 F109 F110 F111 S201 S202 S205 S206 S207 S208 S211
Ends in The Analyst Practical, and the XDRIP Academy Certificate in Digital Asset Analysis (XA-A). Since 2026-09-09 the gate scores the teardown, the investment policy and the returns paper; chart reading is taught in S203 and not required for the certificate.
Run payments and records
49 lessons · 23.5 hrs
Merchants, freelancers and finance staff.
What a chain is, why the rails differ, custody and signing, exchanges and on-ramps, and records you can reconcile. Ends at the practical business job rather than at a trading year.
O100 F101 F102 F103 F104 F105 F107 F108 F109
Ends in No gate yet. The payments practical lives in graduate track G6, which is a topic list today; the reviews propose bringing it forward as its own small gate.
Operate on chain
121 lessons · 61.5 hrs
Protocol users and operators.
After Year One and the Sophomore market-structure and data courses: contracts, permissions, bridges, swaps, liquidity, lending, yield and stablecoin operations, with the risk each one adds.
O100 F101 F102 F103 F104 F105 F106 F107 F108 F109 F110 F111 S201 S205 J301 J302 J303 J304 J305 J306 J310
Ends in The Operator Practical requires the Sophomore gate first and all of Junior, so this pathway is the shortest route to the material rather than a shortcut to XA-O.
Own what I make
74 lessons · 35.8 hrs
Creators and community operators.
Year One, then digital ownership and the creator economy: what a platform can take from you, what a DOT actually records, and a platform-exit plan.
O100 F101 F102 F103 F104 F105 F106 F107 F108 F109 F110 F111 J307
Ends in No gate yet. J307 sits in Junior today and inherits Junior's account requirement; the reviews propose an artifact gate, a platform-exit plan, which does not exist.