From my point of view it was never complicated to obtain bitcoin, it isnt that hard to hold it (the only issue is security of your system), but it is getting harder and harder to get profit or to get to final stage of getting profit, from having it. Easy to buy, not hard to wait until prices goes up, hard to turn bitcoin into fiat without being forced to share profit (to pay taxes) and to keep anonymous (at the place where I am it is close to impossible to stay anonymous while converting crypto to fiat if you dont want to lose 10% or more of your convert value).
Yes, owning bitcoin isn't really hard and complicated, but those who buy bitcoin without being aware of security measures will always find theirselves not the real owners of their bitcoin, but its the exchange itself. Maybe because they have trusted centralized exchange like no other, thinking that bitcoin is safer when its being held by them, not by a self-custodial wallet.
Centralized exchanges offer convenience, bank-like features like password reset and customer support, while self-custodial wallet comes with responsibility, of course those who want to avoid stress will definitely choose centralized one over self-custodial wallet.
This is how situation look in my country. It aint hard to get bitcoin. I can get it for example from signature campaign. But, if I want to exchange it to fiat, I have two major ways to do that:
1) use centralized exchange and later pay 1/4 of exchange amount in form of a tax. Or use exchange (from
https://www.bestchange.com/) and get fiat to paypal or bank account. But it also means paying 1/4 as income tax
2) use p2p exchange to cash, but minimum amount of exchange must be 10k. There is an option to use ATM, but there is no nearly. Closest is 150-200km away, and I must be sure it has enough cash and working.
