University of Nicosia delivers specialised crypto-asset training to Cyprus Financial Intelligence Unit

The University of Nicosia’s Institute for the Future (IFF) has completed a four-day professional training programme on crypto-assets for MOKAS, the Republic of Cyprus’ Financial Intelligence Unit. The programme was awarded to UNIC following a competitive public tender and ran between 24-29 September 2026 at MOKAS premises in Nicosia. It was designed and delivered specifically for the Unit, following a needs assessment carried out with participating staff in advance. The curriculum covered the technological foundations of crypto-assets and public blockchains; the European and Cypriot legal and regulatory framework, including the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation and the Transfer of Funds Regulation; the analysis of crypto-asset transactions and the tools used for that work; and the procedural dimension of locating, freezing and seizing crypto-assets. Teaching was led by Dr Charis Savvides, with Professor George Giaglis, Executive Director of the IFF, and Professor Apostolos Kourtis. “Crypto-assets are now a routine feature of financial crime reporting, and the skills needed to read that reporting properly are specific and learnable,” said Dr Savvides. “The aim was not to make anybody a blockchain specialist in four days. It was to give experienced financial intelligence professionals the technical grounding to interrogate what arrives on their desks with the same rigour they already apply to everything else.” The University of Nicosia has taught blockchain and digital assets since 2013 and is the first university worldwide to offer a full academic degree in the field. Its IFF conducts research and delivers executive and professional education on distributed ledger technologies, digital assets and their regulation.