The internet was supposed to make money move like information: instant, borderless, unstoppable. But thirty years later, commerce is still chained to middlemen. A handful of processors stand between merchants and their customers, deciding who gets paid, how much, and when. They freeze accounts, reverse transactions, and offboard entire industries with a single policy update. This isn’t an accident. It’s the business model. Payment companies profit from control. The more they can act as chokep...