Dropping your cynical take, and for reasons other than buying illegal services, bitcoin plus strong privacy tools provides a path towards eventually separating money payments from identity.
Money is a form of speech, in that it communicates values. Sometimes freedom of speech requires strong anonymity. I see no reason money shouldn't have the same characteristics. The alternative---that governments and other entities get to surveil all our monetary speech/actions---will only have further chilling effects on freedom and civil society.
We need monetary privacy to preserve ordered freedom in society, not to buy criminal services.
That is a fair point; I think many people will agree on "statement of problem" - pornography is a quick example which is a perfectly legal activity but a) may be privacy-demanding and b) payment methods are being denied based on... not legal requirements :).
Cash was nice - fairly anonymous. Digital anonymity seems to be harder. Currently, Crypto to the best of my understanding is not necessarily the solution - it is extremely trackable inside the system, and vulnerable at the edges of the system.
Money is a form of speech, in that it communicates values. Sometimes freedom of speech requires strong anonymity. I see no reason money shouldn't have the same characteristics. The alternative---that governments and other entities get to surveil all our monetary speech/actions---will only have further chilling effects on freedom and civil society.
We need monetary privacy to preserve ordered freedom in society, not to buy criminal services.
I'm glad police are trying to reduce DDoS crimes.