Centralized exchanges have never been secure, not before, not now. The reason is very simple, if you store your coins on the CEC, then these coins are not actually yours, you just can see the balance that the exchange displays for you, but in fact you have no guarantees that you will be able to withdraw your coins at any time when you will need it. In addition, you may be required to pass verification, which is also not very good.
Exactly. But most people are blind enough to see this, since they're only thinking about what's more convenient for them. It's a lot easier to leave custody of your coins to a third party, than just doing it yourself. Using a centralized exchange is as simple as online banking. I'm afraid we're going to see additional disasters down the road, due to the inherent failures of centralized exchanges. This could only change if people began using decentralized exchanges more thoroughly (although they're still susceptible to hacks).
If you really want to be "safe", then just trade a small amount of coins on a centralized exchange and leave the rest in your wallet. If the CEX gets hacked or runs away with the money, your losses would be at the minimum. Regulators are paying close attention to what's happening on the crypto industry, so it's likely there will be further scrutiny against CEXs to help keep investors' and/or traders' funds safe no matter what. At least, we have a choice. As long as decentralization wins, nothing else matters. Just my opinion
