Quote from: pringesgood on January 02, 2013, 08:09:45 PM

but then who or what ensures and enforces that both parties are being honest?, isn't that the job OF a middle man to ensure security?

Bitcoin ensures that when you are paid that the transaction will not be later reversed. There are varying risks when you receive a transaction but after a few seconds it can be determined to be a very low chance of the payment being reversed (due to a race attack double spend attempt), then after one confirmation (i.e., after about ten minutes, on average) there is an even lesser chance. Then by six confirmations (average about an hour) it is mathematically certain to be non-reversible (with a lone exception of a 51% attack).

So, if you are sending cash to someone and don't trust them, consider using an escrow partner. Or pay with credit card so you have the dispute protections. If you are planning on scamming someone by means of a chargeback, definitely pay with credit card and not with bitcoin because with bitcoin there is no forced dispute resolution. [Edit: Said this way not to encourage scamming but to highlight Bitcoin's strength against a payment method that is reversible.]

If you are accepting bitcoins from someone in exchange for something of value then you can know that there is no intermediary that will extract those coins from you at a later time.