DISTRIBUTED TRUST AND SINGLE POINTS OF FAILURE....

Yet the key advantage of Bitcoin really resides in the way it handles trust in transactions, and eliminates single points of failure.

With the traditional system, you need to trust that the rules and mechanisms will not lead to errors and that every single counterparty involved operates properly. If one counterparty along the chain is somehow compromised, then the whole chain will be compromised.

With Bitcoin, the set of rules and mechanisms underpinning the system makes fraud, manipulation and errors impossible.

As Bitcoin software is open source, anyone in the world can access it and review it. In Bitcoin's 10-year track record, no security flaw has ever been uncovered. No one has found a way to change a signed transaction, or modify the blockchain.

Additionally, the beauty of a distributed system is that you don't need to trust any single one of its components as there is no single point of failure. Compromising one or a few nodes would not compromise the network. To fraudulently modify pending transactions or the blockchain of past transactions, one would need to take control of the majority of the computing power of the network.

Ultimately, where the risk lies is your digital wallet, as it stores your private keys. Anybody who accesses your private keys can spend the funds in the wallet. This is the reason why offline wallets, referred to as 'cold-storage', are frequently used to prevent hacking. But from the moment your transaction is signed, it is safe. There are no single points of failure, and you don't need to place your trust in any single party.

Is there a better trust system than one in which you don't need to trust anyone?