I agree with you except that I do not think we should forego the "not ready/needing bitcoin" crowd. In fact, they should be our primary target. Onboarding them to self-custodial solutions should be our goal, but if someone is not yet ready to pay for opening their first channel, we should offer them a zero-cost solution to get started. We can then encourage them to learn more about Bitcoin.

Many hardcore Bitcoiners started their journey on exchange wallets. Some went through a "shitcoin phase" or a "trading phase." That's all fine because most learned along the way.