[EGreg]

I beleve this misses the point. We have always been able to place "small amounts of trust" in smalltime credit issuers. The point of bitcoin etc. is that there is no need to trust ANYONE. When someone you trust betrays the trust you need recourse. Here, there isn't a way for someone to betray your trust, it would take massive effort, so you can rely On the system to transfer money without resorting to legal remedies later and having to allow for fraud.