as those would need to fully rely on the issuer to keep their service up and not act malevolently.

Thanks for this post.

May you clarify it to me how steemEngine's tokes relly only on issuer?

There are no miners/witnesses? All the data related to blockchain are stored in one place? What happens if SteemEngine stops working?

Sorry if those questions are amateurish, I would like to know, but not that much to find it out for myself :D