It's a bunch of "hodler" whales who, if the currency is successful enough, will become the next "old guys with nukes".
If most people use bitcoin off-chain then it means that it's the cryptocurrency exchange cartel who gets to decide what is and isn't bitcoin. Who cares if the node in your basement disagrees if all the exchanges have forked away and nobody can trade with you.
The whole "it's just code" shtick is really shortsighted. It's never only just code, it's a complex consensus. Look at all the drama around segwit/bitcoin cash for instance.