> the whole point of cryptocurrency to do without banks? 
No. The whole point was to get transparency, cheaper and faster transactions.

> Still looks like a middleman is very much in effect.

Middlemen's will always be there. Exchanges are middlemen's too. The problem is not middlemen the problem is the way they go about it.

> can they really pull it off?

I think so. My verdict is positive. The rest is for them to prove. But do know that in projects like this that deals with regulatory authorities, there are sometimes unexpected hiccups. But that doesn't count towards team failure.

> ALL becomes £$€ only. What about other countries?

True, but do remember that there are certain cost involved to those gateways so projects usually run the profitable coins in the beginning and then keeps adding coins. That's a standard procedure. You can't just support all from day 1. Takes time.

Initially, UK will be covered and then will take on the rest of regions.