The problem is that the people who run the exchanges can't stop themselves from using customers' money to try to get rich. In theory it is possible that an exc

The problem is that the people who run the exchanges can't stop themselves from using customers' money to try to get rich. In theory it is possible that an exchange could just take customer money, keep it in a lockbox, and make their revenue by charging transaction fees. But does that ever happen? The kind of people who are so into crypto that they build a business out of it are fundamentally incapable of that kind of self control. They think they are revolutionaries who are remaking the financial system. They do really dumb financial stuff that the rest of us learned was bad after the 19th century. They aren't the kind of people who would just leave customer deposits alone. Remember that FTX was supposed to be the responsible exchange. All the other ones were considered to be worse.