The core tradeoff of decentralized, permissionless networks is control vs. liquidity. The bet is simple: no pool of capital will ever be larger than the internet’s, and liquidity ultimately beats control. There aren’t many blockchains left trying to become TCP/IP for money. Many have quietly abandoned that ambition and are instead becoming Fintech 3.0: regulated applications optimized for control and near-term distribution. In doing so, they’re foregoing the opportunity to build financial infrastructure for the 5.5 billion users of the internet.