So like a return to free banking where MSTR just happens to hold the most digital gold and is the biggest bank?

maybe it just is a fluke company that discovered the "securitizing bitcoin" via the convertible debt strategy and now has the first mover/size/leadership moat. This will work until Bitcoin is fully monetized, and then Microstrategy is basically Berkshire Hathaway, buying profitable companies and selling insurance backed by their treasury.