It is so very true about trusting the exchange, you just use them but you don't wholly use them. When you trade, deposit only the amount that you'll be using for trading, none other than that.
You can add to it that you don't have to be hyped with any popular person that gives his insights about the market. Like the typical thing when there's someone popular that gives advice about what he must do and the media hypes it. There were many people that have done the wrong thing of believing those.
I am glad the OP got those realizations. Because up until now, a lot have different outlook towards crypto market. For most who are not yet here, they thought crypto is a scam. But they only need right information to understand what the OP stated. Those simple lessons will give them good approach towards crypto and find ways how to secure their assets away from fraudulent sites and projects.
Many still think crypto is a scam, thanks to those exit scammers from different projects and investment schemes that have used crypto as their payment gateway.
Also, to the big exchanges that have made their name through the entire community by doing something like what FTX has done. But us, who have been here for quite a while, we understand these situations and events that has happened.