If there is no State intervention to prevent it, in the event Wise got greedy and extractive, nothing would stop someone else from offering the same service, keeping Wise in check through competition.
I'm not saying that you can't use BTC as a payment system, it's just that it's not needed and it's inferior to what they are already doing right now in the legacy system.
I think to the extent that bitcoin adoption / circular economy is low, this is at least directionally correct.
However once / if / as people integrate into communities with bitcoin circular economy then the calculus changes as this obviates much / all of the need to convert back into fiat for spending use.
This is false. It is like saying if my local Starbuck or McDonalds or Walmart got greedy, someone else could just compete with them. Not so easy when then they dominate the market. Sure, I can open a coffee cart, or a vegetable stand -but am I really competing, or even able to compete?
Your point is taken, though - for you, the stronger use case is SoV, and I can agree that is true for many, now. But this may not always be the case, and some day Wise (or Strike) might not offer what you need, and lightning (or liquid) might.
Banking and money services are licensed in most jurisdictions, no? These licenses aren't always easy to get, for a competitor. Ask Elon. Thankfully Bitcoin doesn't need licensed entities to operate.
