Before the scam artists, billions of dollars and wild speculation, cryptocurrencies were set out to empower people by decentralization - a term misused and underappreciated by many. Bitcoin has provided us with the first stepping stone in what will be an uphill battle against the corruption, oppression and greed of financial institutions and governments alike. We've come a long way, but the battle has only just begun. As long as we rely on centralized exchanges as gateways, we continue to deprive ourselves of a truely decentralized means of exchange.
It is only a matter of time before the technology catches up to our needs - and when it does, governments will shake.
Decentralized exchanges will need to find ways to integrate atomic swaps, smart contracts and fiat currencies in order to compete with today's exchanges. Decentralization will make it virtually impossible for governments to regulate and allow users to transact completely anonymously while spending almost nothing on trades.
Progress becomes increasingly important with every hack and shut down of centralized exchanges.
Let's do our best to raise awareness and support decentralized exchanges. Don't underestimate the change.
This is one of the best and most meaningful posts I recently read here on bitcointalk! I have the same mindset as you!
I really believe in decentralized exchanges and I'm already using some of them (especially Waves DEX). They are not so more difficult to use than traditional ones, so there's really no reason to not use them.
The only downside of complete decentralization for exchanges is fiat money deposits and withdrawals. This is something that still requires some kind of verification. But in my opinion sooner or later even this problem will be solved and everyone will be able to trade, deposit and withdraw any kind of currencies on decentralized exchanges!
