The same can be said for Coinbase. While i do have accounts on both platforms (in fact on all platforms suggested by @acidyo), I cant remember the last time i touched them because of how KYC/AML compliant they've become. Not to mention the allaged insider trading happening in Coinbase.
It's a Catch-22 though, exchanges need to be like this to get "normies" interested but will lose the value that made cryptocurrency what it is.
IMO they're completely incomparable. Coinbase is KYC under the state thumb, but Coinbase isn't acting as a central bank for other exchanges. All the large exchanges have accounts with BitFinex and they use it to provide liquidity between exchanges. BitFinex manages a token which represents a custodial fund of USD, which they recently moved to a bank in the Bahamas. Even if we assume it's all above board, the crypto ecosystem is far more systemically dependent on the honesty and soundness of BitFinex than any other exchange by far.
It that case then i agree. But Coinbase itself is acting exactly like how a retail bank would act, and i was thinking from that angle. Again, a catch-22 because not listing on these platform means the average american joe will never hear of Steem when they google "Which crypto should i invest this month"