Whenever someone compares miners to a federation or a consortium they keep omitting the most mind boggling fact, the magic of PoW blockchains and Nakamoto consensus, the unprecedented computer science breakthrough that is; Anyone can join without asking the existing set of operators for permission, in fact even if all operators disappear someone can ressume the service, again without permission. There is absolutely nothing like that anywhere else, and for a god reason; it is expensive like a mf, and only rarely woth the cost.