Pretty much agree with your points. However I do remember when things like ASIC resistance, difficulty retargeting, Android wallets and even country specific coins were USPs that resulted in huge marketcaps for months if not years and how, now, many of these have faded. I agree that DEX is core and vital but a platform should not be a one trick pony. I think gateways, fiat or otherwise, contracts etc are very important. (funnily enough, given my above post, not so much anonymous - would rather see some solid third party run gateways to anon coins)
Yes but DEX is and will be an eternal business. If you get it right, that's like a real oil spring. But ultimately you are correct, having various things in the pipeline seriously can't hurt.