Bitcoin institutions are objectively untrustworthy and most people involved in Bitcoin have no real choice but to rely on them. I trust, say, Citibank more than Bitfinex.
Given the huge number of people who only transact using exchanges, and the usability improvements of doing so, that may technically be true, but probably isn't too helpful. For most people they are inseparable in practice. Worrying about the trustworthiness of the major bitcoin players is practical.
