Is there any actual focus on ATProto as a decentralized protocol? So far it seems like its only purpose is building Bluesky as a centralized service, which I have no interest in at all.

Doesn't the existence of tangled answer your question?

No, because when I go to sign up for the service, it asks for a Bluesky account name specifically. I don't care for yet another Facebook sign-in. I want something on par with email.