What? Is this a joke? Bitcoin was created by a nobody with no money. Same with litecoin, same with ether, etc etc. In the 1890's and before most currency was created by banks, not governments, and this only changed with the introduction of the modern federal reserve. I'm honestly sort of surprised the NYT would write such a bad piece; their opinion section has really gone downhill in the last few years.
1) "Matt Stoller is a fellow at the Open Markets Institute." 2) A nobody with no money has no influence over anyone. The product has to sell itself. Bitcoin has. 3) Banks created currency for governments. You're describing scrip, which is of limited purpose. Libra is scrip, not currency, but Facebook intends to use it as currency above and beyond the currencies in its native targets (India, Nigeria, etc). 4) Governments have power over banks. Nigeria, India etc. do not have power over Facebook.