The internet didn't exist then, and it's still an Apples and oranges. Billions of people have access to crypto technology now, and there are no gatekeepers preventing them form participating.

Arpanet was started 1969 and you had to be part of a small number of institutions to have access.

You me and everyone else on this thread are here getting value out of it. That’s more than the number of people who get value out of crypto.