Thought experiment: I set up my own "bank", which is really just a little website that maintains accounts and a transaction ledger. I somehow manage to convince

Thought experiment: I set up my own "bank", which is really just a little website that maintains accounts and a transaction ledger. I somehow manage to convince a large fraction of the population that I will follow certain rules and not mess with those numbers. Assuming that I do manage this, do you think those numbers on my website would become valuable? If yes, why? If no, why do you believe that trust is the reason that fiat currency is valuable? Consider the following alternative explanation: Fiat currency is valuable because there is demand for it. The prime source of demand for fiat currency is for taxes. The secondary source is from all sorts of contracts (in particular, mortgage and other debt service) that require lots of people to obtain it. Trust comes in only as a tertiary source, at best.