Crypto, or at least bitcoin, is not anonymous. On the contrary the payment trail is there for the whole world to see. Governments could blacklist those coins such that no exchange or legitimate vendor would ever take them. They choose not for whatever reason but not because the technology offers anonymity.
There are different kinds of anonymity, I think. There's anonymity of the identity of people, and anonymity of the nature of the transaction. Most cryptocurrency is bad at the former and good at the latter.
How private are those then? Isn't it true that at least everything is visible to at least all participants?
EDIT: in other words, my question is actually whether your claim has relevance, considering how most crypto currencies aim to be public (or that's at least my impression).
Pseudonymity is almost never sufficient, as Ross Ulbricht proves.
Yes, there are a few cryptocurrencies for whom untraceability is a design goal. Obviously this does not include Bitcoin (which is the subject of this thread), and in general it doesn't include the vast majority of cryptocurrencies.
It has open ledger where you can simply read source address, destination address and amount for each transaction. Thats how the tech works, anyone can look at the ledger. Intentionally and by design.
Cryptocurrencies are terrible at privacy, too. Any time you try to use cryptocurrency to buy physical goods (or fiat currency), whoever you're transacting with can know every transaction you've ever made.
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