I think it's easy to be cynical. But one major reason I'm a believer in decentralized consensus is because I think it can make the silo'd financial systems of the world as seamlessly interoperable as the Internet made the silo'd telecommunication systems of the world.
It feels a lot like when AOL first started supporting email in 1993. It's easy to dismiss AOL and Nasdaq as highly centralized systems that don't align with the ethos of decentralization. But the other way to look at it is a previously maximally centralized system is interfacing with a decentralized one in a way that gives the users of the former slightly more freedom and the latter wider user base and legitimacy.
I think this is a large part of why many Americans in particular don't understand crypto. They already have access to the world's best financial system and all the protections of the state when using it.
Living in Australia and trying to invest in financial markets overseas is like pulling teeth sometimes, because every country has their own incompatible systems and local rules and regulations. And this is a developed well integrated country!
Crypto is the first time we have a global financial system that everyone can join without any one country being able to set the rules and control the system. This is extremely beneficial for countries that don't trust each other to be able to integrate and trade.
It feels a lot like when AOL first started supporting email in 1993. It's easy to dismiss AOL and Nasdaq as highly centralized systems that don't align with the ethos of decentralization. But the other way to look at it is a previously maximally centralized system is interfacing with a decentralized one in a way that gives the users of the former slightly more freedom and the latter wider user base and legitimacy.