I don't know if this has been discussed before, if so I'll just lock the thread.
The original purpose of bitcoin is to be able to transact peer to peer without intermediaries or centralised authorities. Lets imagine an ideal world where bitcoin is truly used in a decentralised manner (no regulated exchanges/merchants) and is accepted as everyday money. How will attackers be tracked, identified and penalised if they steal coins from others. Is there any possible way to track the attackers since KYC is not required to initiate a transaction?
I am asking because centralised exchanges were not part of the original plan. We are supposed practice self custody for the original purpose of bitcoin to be achieved. Run a full node and manage our bitcoin client (Bitcoin core and others) instead of relying on CEX. I am particularly concerned how identifying and penalising fraudsters will be possible in such an ideal world.
While it's true that centralized exchanges weren't the original plan,, they're still incredibly necessary today, and they've really helped Bitcoin become more widely known. Imagine if centralized exchanges didn't exist,, who would you buy Bitcoin from? Sometimes,, even the people around us don't know what Bitcoin is. So, if we wanted to buy Bitcoin, we'd probably have to find someone who owned it. That's quite complicated,, in my personal opinion.
But with centralized exchanges like this, I think it really makes things easier for everyone. I wouldn't say centralized exchanges are bad, because they do make things easier, although KYC is indeed compromised. Nevertheless, it's clearly a necessary security measure. On a large centralized exchange like Binance, we're bound to buy and sell Bitcoin with anyone, anywhere. So, security measures are clearly essential. That's why, even though Bitcoin is truly decentralized, when it comes to transactions, I think using a centralized exchange is fine, as it doesn't change Bitcoin's decentralized value.