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Now the thing about virtual currency and these IOUs is that to work they need a great deal of ... faith. Mr Nabuk had to believe - he must have had faith - in the willingness and capacity of the controllers of the granary to give him the grain he was owed once it was produced. And others must have believed that too before accepting Mr Nabuk's shell-IOUs in exchange for oil or salt or in order to help him build his hut. This is the origin of the word 'credit': it comes from the Latin credere, which means 'to believe'.