Trust and "Independence" are not binary qualities when we are talking about these systems. It's a matter of risk exposure, a sliding scale that you can control.
With crypto I can choose how much of my assets are going to be in crypto that I control (long-term savings, DeFi investments), how much is going to be in a custodial wallet (could be for my scheduled on-ramp DCA buys, could be to keep more liquid trading) and how much I am going to keep in a regular traditional bank for more "traditional" investments, my checking account, private pension payments, credit cards, etc, etc.
This wouldn't be easy to achieve if we don't have reputable centralized exchanges. I am not dependent on them to control the funds I already moved out, but I am relying on them to have a functional system to fill in the gaps that the current permissionless/trustless systems can not provide.
With crypto I can choose how much of my assets are going to be in crypto that I control (long-term savings, DeFi investments), how much is going to be in a custodial wallet (could be for my scheduled on-ramp DCA buys, could be to keep more liquid trading) and how much I am going to keep in a regular traditional bank for more "traditional" investments, my checking account, private pension payments, credit cards, etc, etc.
This wouldn't be easy to achieve if we don't have reputable centralized exchanges. I am not dependent on them to control the funds I already moved out, but I am relying on them to have a functional system to fill in the gaps that the current permissionless/trustless systems can not provide.