The middleman that bitcoin is cleaved from is banks (that have control over all balances and transactions), and payment processors (same controls). Previously these were required unless you handed physical cash to someone. Now electronic transactions are free of those controls and the associated risk. Exchanges are not bitcoin, you can transact freely without them. Wallet providers are not bitcoin, they are 100% optional. Nodes don't act as middlemen, they are fabric.

And people could just do all their business in cash to avoid banks. But that's not practical just like avoiding exchanges and not using wallet providers is impractical.

Normal people cannot function in a cryptocurrency ecosystem without these new tech middlemen. This is exactly what I mean when I say _in practice_. Average people are still left to the whims of cryptocurrency corporations that are worse than banks because they're unregulated, much greedier, and much less risk averse.

> middleman that bitcoin is cleaved from is banks (that have control over all balances and transactions), and payment processors (same controls)

Miners now replace this since there is a network fee required to transact.

I'm not sure what the current state of affair is, but ETH gas fees were egregious last time I transacted ETH.

> you still need exchanges, wallet providers, people running nodes, etc

you don't need exchanges or wallet providers, or any other intermediary, to exchange Bitcoin -- those add layers of convenience (conversion, storage), but they do _not_ strengthen the web of trust and do not provide the same function as intermediary banks and clearing houses do

yes, you do need people running nodes, but they're not intermediate layers, and you can run a node yourself to benefit from the system (though in practice it's no longer profitable due to bitcoin farms)

If the banking system was compromised from war, Bitcoin still functions without them

Because during war you're guaranteed to have electricity and internet for Bitcoin to function

That was one of the key motivations behind the creation of the Internet, yes.