If a society has high trust (between individuals, institutions, and the soundness of the currency) then that society can afford to scale using trust (IOUs, custodians, loose money policy).

However, when trust is low, the demand for a "trust minimized" alternative increases. When a society cannot afford to use trust, it must pay a premium to use the trustless alternative.

Trustless alternatives always carry a premium because they rely on incentives rather than people doing "the right thing".

I'm hopeful that by increasing the cost of a society without trust, we will actually return to trust as a means of mutually beneficial cooperation (to avoid the high fees associated with living in a trustless society).

Without a trustless alternative, trust would be abused to no end. The existence of a trustless alternative gives me hope that society can earn the privilege to trust again.