>In reality it's under the control of the lead developers
Only because they've done nothing wrong (thus far). If there was any hint of foul play, they would be out.
The people that run the mining pools don't "control" bitcoin to any substantial degree. And, again, if they seriously abused their power, a trivial software fix would be to change the proof-of-work algorithm, instantly obsoleting the miners' equipment.
At the very least any action like that would create a huge schism and split the community and the currency.
I'm not trying to say that these actors have done anything bad, just the idea that it's not under control of a few central authorities isn't really grounded in observable fact...
Only because they've done nothing wrong (thus far). If there was any hint of foul play, they would be out.
The people that run the mining pools don't "control" bitcoin to any substantial degree. And, again, if they seriously abused their power, a trivial software fix would be to change the proof-of-work algorithm, instantly obsoleting the miners' equipment.