Some people still use centralized exchanges for transactions made in bitcoin, but that doesn't mean they don't understand the principles of bitcoin and there are still many people who currently store bitcoin in wallets that are much more secure and not everyone stores bitcoin in centralized exchanges. Centralized exchanges are only used when they are trying to make transactions, whether small amounts or larger amounts.
While in my case it's possible to use a centralized exchange only when I want to make a transaction, the exchange I use is usually licensed to operate in the country where I live, but I don't hold bitcoins on a centralized exchange either in the short or long term.
I wouldn't say some people, but the average trader or investor is a user of a centralized exchange even if they don't hold their assets on the exchange. The best advice is to use a suitable centralized exchange, this can help you convert your bitcoins or crypto to fiat and not keep your investment there in the long term.
I don't expect the presence of a centralized exchange to have deprived bitcoiners of complete anonymity as long as they have other exchange options without KYC. So anyone can use and not use centralized exchanges, but they also know that centralized exchanges also played an important role in making bitcoin more popular.