The main point of crypto IMO is to have a large-denomination bearer asset.

This is overlooked most places but if you examine around the time the FATF finally pretty much eliminated bearer bonds, bearer stocks, and large bank notes was exactly the time crypto really took off.

Unfortunately government regulation does not make that possible for exchanges. It also is not the point of crypto.

Coinbase is a bridge between digital currencies and the traditional world.

The PII is required by governments, to convert crypto money into real money.

Not if you are dealing with a regulated exchange that facilitates fiat money transactions.

You can receive crypto privately to your own wallet without sharing PII, without any exchange.

It's simple. They want to centralize crypto and dickheads like armstrong are happy to be in line to make that happen. Just look at tether, what's the point of it? It's nothing but a front for inflating the price of bitcoin. It has NEVER been audited and has been found to NOT have any USD backing at all