>>Of course you do if the currency has been backed by some other asset. You can't just declare that your crypto currency is a "stablecoin" and therefore it is b

>>Of course you do if the currency has been backed by some other asset. You can't just declare that your crypto currency is a "stablecoin" and therefore it is backed by US dollars. There has to be something actually backing it. And that's what you have to trust. You're misunderstanding me. By cryptocurrency, I am referring to a natively digital asset, with nothing from the real world, e.g. US dollars, backing it. ETH would be an example of a cryptocurrency. I am distinguishing cryptocurrencies from stablecoins, which do have something from the real world backing them. That's why I wrote: "The cryptocurrency can't be redeemed for anything, and thus there's no one to trust for honoring the claim upon redemption." With stablecoins, you need to trust a third party - the issuer of the stablecoin - to provide USD in the event that the stablecoin is redeemed. With a cryptocurrency, there is no third party you need to trust to honor any pledges. Yes, governments can ban a cryptocurrency, but that is NOT a case of a trusted third party violating its commitment to you, as in the case of a stablecoin issuer in default, so it's an entirely different category of dependence on trust in a third party.