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Well it doesn't exactly rely on a central exchange. Unless you're trying to day trade with Bitcoins you don't need to trust a central authority for very long with your Bitcoins. Due to the small size of Bitcoin a popular exchange is attractive but it's not like everyone can't switch to Bitfloor if MtGox closes today.

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I should have worded that a bit better.

The majority of Bitcoin trade occurs at Mt.Gox, so you could say the market is pretty centralized.

Actually, Bitfloor had to cease all trading operations indefinitely. That aside, there are plenty of other reputable exchanges that need to gain more market share. It's ridiculous that a DDoS attack could be used for price manipulation purposes. That shouldn't be too much of a problem in a diversified market.

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