Denelle Dixon, CEO of the Stellar Development Foundation, has issued a stark warning about the potential for blockchain infrastructure to fall prey to monopolization. She argues that the industry faces a crossroads where private companies are establishing their own proprietary blockchains, echoing concerns around historical monopolies such as the railroad industry. 19th-century parallels illuminate her point: “Whoever controls the infrastructure, controls the commerce,” Dixon emphasizes. This warning comes amid rising trends of proprietary blockchain networks from firms like Coinbase and JP Morgan. She fears these monopolistic tendencies could significantly disrupt the financial ecosystem by concentrating control in a limited number of hands. This concentration poses risks to traditional cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), as well as stablecoins, potentially leading to a decrease in market liquidity.