Oh yes. It has a small amount of counterparty risk - but serves a valuable place in the BitShares product family. The whole bitAsset family (bitUSD, bitCNY, etc.) is fully decentralized but not infinitely scalable to allow big investors to move hundreds of millions into play. We want to build a mix of assets with complementary features and let people swim around in the stew.
Ok..makes sense. Thanks @Stan!