[T-A]

> There is some degree of decentralization, although not fully decentralized.

Please stop spreading disinformation.

> There's definitely a lot more smoke and mirrors there, especially when I need to register to these websites.

Again: those are independently developed and managed web apps which provide a nice graphical user interface to Stellar's decentralized exchange.

You don't need to use them to access the exchange. If you do, the accounts you create with them are unrelated to the exchange; they are specific to those web apps, and serve obvious purposes like helping you keep track of your trades.

None of this is even remotely hard to understand for anyone who knows anything at all about the subject. That somebody who claims to be more than a regular user would fail to understand it is not credible.