Mostly rant + discussion flair: Could we take a moment to talk about CeX (and Dex) trading fees?

I just made a crypto-to-fiat trade on Coinbase and paid a little more than $20 in trading fees. I don't know what it was about right now because I've paid these exorbitant fees before on Coinbase, but something about today led me to here to bring up this rant and start a discussion.

tl;dr: I'm complaining about the Coinbase fee I just paid, high CeX fees are a reflection of the age/stage we're at in crypto, today's fees hinder "mass adoption", any future for crypto needs to be friendlier to retail regardless of location IMO.

I know this isn't the first time I've mentioned this, I'm having some deja vu where I think I've b*tched about this before. But anyway…would love a group discussion on the future of fees for retails and miners/validators, vision for mass adoption, contribution of anecdotes of fees on Coinbase as well as other DeXs and CeXs, and anything else related to this.

The rant bit…

Frankly, this may just be a reflection of the age and stage of CeX trading because I remember when equity trading cost ~$10 per trade ~10-15 years ago and now it's basically fee-less per trade on many of the largest platforms, e.g., Fidelity, Schwab.

Coinbase knows they're among a few games in town that offer a relatively stable experience buying/selling crypto. Therefore, they know they can charge what they want (to a certain point) and get away with it.

I don't trade enough to enroll in their subscription service, and I get they want that recurring revenue from subscription fees to offset any fluctuations in trading fees, which have dipped considerably in this bear market.

Anyway, today was the day where something clicked in me to take the time to write this post. I don't think it's ridiculous to observe that Coinbase is ripping its customers off because it can, just like other financial services companies and corporations. I don't believe that Brian Armstrong and his team are really in it for the people. Americans might be able to stomach $20, but people around the world can't. And Coinbase is trying to expand internationally, I wonder what their fees are elsewhere?

The discussion bit…but still kind of a rant…

"Mass adoption". Maybe the most common phrase in crypto other than, "early days". In this case, both words are relevant.

It's early days, so Coinbase still has market power to charge this and get away with it.

But how can we really get to mass adoption when it costs so much to trade crypto…in the USA…on a Cex! I can't imagine this sitting well with people in the global south who are trading crypto on their respective CeX if there is one available.

And DeX's aren't that much better in terms of network fees. The cost is way to high for most people in the world outside of wealthier nations.

Vitalik and many many others have brought up the need to lower the cost to retail (at the expense of miners and validators). I think people in this community and the whole of crypto may agree that the network fees today are inhibiting any form of mass adoption, even in the most "extreme" places where crypto is a lifeline due to the local monopoly money, e.g., Lebanon, Argentina, maybe Zimbabwe. And even in those places we're still at the point of time where users are the most technically savvy and financially literate, clustered in cities with the best access to Internet.

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Are you annoyed at Coinbase? What are the fees like on other CeXs? Your thoughts on the future of fees and mass adoption?

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Thanks for reading. Have a good Sunday!

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Edit: For grammar