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Sure, crypto aims to eliminate the middlemen; but middlemen are sometimes useful.
Why not both? Why not have crypto act as a threat that keeps bankers from ripping off their customers?
Payment systems are rigged. You need to be a large bank to participate, and regulators will fight for large banks to keep competitors out. Sure, they might say this is for a good reason like financial stability or anti-money laundering (AML); but they don’t even have good arguments for why this is worthwhile (in the case of AML) or whether it is effective (in the case of financial stability.
You might be right that, in some ideal, free-market world, there wouldn’t be crypto. But, in this world, there should be even if it is only to push against the inefficiencies imposed by governments, bureaucrats, and regulators.
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