I am surprised the is no protocol to allow direct trade between BTC and LTC or other altcoins. If coin exchanges are still centralized it's not really a peer-peer currency.
It is a P2P currency(s). People trade person to person all the time, and were doing (and still did) this before exchanges existed. It's still used all the time, especially with newer cryptos that aren't supported by any exchanges. I have personally done this a few times with other people. Both in real life, and around the internet.No one is forced to use exchanges, it's just that some people prefer the reliability and security of using an exchange as a mediator (escrow) between other users. Use exchanges, trade directly, do whatever suits you best. That's not centralization, that's the free market.
