Does The Merge/PoS make Ethereum validation permissioned?

Hi all,

Trying to better understand Ethereum's PoS more deeply.

As I understand it, proof of stake requires N (16 or 32 depending on Rocketpool/self-hosted etc) ETH to be deposited into the staking contract in order to be a participant in a slot.

However, how does this affect new miners who have yet to obtain ETH? In the current system they could obtain mining equipment (at a non-negligible cost for sure, not doubting that) used to validate and be rewarded with ETH, but in PoS since ETH is required to become a validator, I can imagine a catch-22 where users in crypto-sanctioned regions cannot access ways to purchase ETH (other than p2p) to even become a validator in the first place.

Am I missing something with how ETH is distributed under Proof of Stake, or is there any risk in having exchanges control the majority of the ETH distribution after The Merge?