Part 8/12:
This disintermediation enables individuals to transact directly, without reliance on middlemen, which could dramatically reduce the dominance of banks and financial gatekeepers. This process echoes the disruption of the music industry through MP3s and peer-to-peer sharing platforms, where established players were slow to adapt or fight back, ultimately losing control.
The Threat to Established Power Structures
One of Antonopoulos' key points is that most of the world’s dominant industries—especially banking—are built on monopoly and control. Bitcoin, as a decentralized system, directly threatens those monopolies by empowering individuals and enabling peer-to-peer transactions.