While there have been improvements, acquiring XMR in a decentralized way is still not that accessible. Compare the action flows between acquiring a ERC20 token using a DEX if you own ETH, and acquiring XMR if you own another altcoin. Plenty of room to improve I think.
You’ve got a point — Monero’s native PoW chain definitely makes DEX swaps way trickier compared to ERC-20 tokens. Without bridges, validators, or wrapped assets, true decentralized trading for XMR is still kinda out of reach. We’ll probably need to wait for more advanced solutions or see CEX dominance fade a bit.
For now, I still use Monero through centralized platforms. Not ideal, but it gets the job done.