Quote from: sirius on February 25, 2014, 08:59:29 AM

Escrow requires trust in the arbitrator.

Does it really have to, or is that just the way people have always done it before?

Quote from: sirius on February 25, 2014, 08:59:29 AM

Reputation is valuable in basically all human interaction. Airbnb, couchsurfing and Uber are practical examples of the power of reputation systems.

Reputation systems give you a limited and imperfect method of predicting intentionally malicious behavior.

Insurance provides recourse that covers both intentional and unintentional damages. Properly implemented insurance systems offer a strict superset of the functionality provided by reputation systems and also don't require privacy compromises.