I am not surprised. If Bitcoin gets worldwide acceptability, then the role of the middlemen in the financial sector will come to an end. When I mean middlemen, I am talking about the bankers, hedge fund managers, and those who operate money transfer and remittance services. Now Bitcoin is a direct competitor to these people and it pose an existential threat for them. Who will pay 10% for remittance service, if the same can be done with a Bitcoin-based system with just 1% fee? Also, who will keep the money in a bank account, if Bitcoin allows you to create your own wallet and store the money all by yourself?
You just mentioned two of the benefits of bitcoins but in reality there are several such benefits which makes bitcoins stand a way further than the normal currencies or the middlemen who perform international transactions by charging excess fees.
The emergence of bitcoins might ruin their businesses which would always be a threat to them as well as the governments of various nations because the government too charges a lot of tax for such transactions which would be transacted for minimum charges with bitcoins. Bitcoins would unlock the next level of payments if ever they are considered to enter the mainstream monetary system.
