I don't get why people are so defensive on BTC that they sometimes deny things that are obvious.
Yeah, BTC can be used for illegal activities, yeah BTC has been used for buying all kinds of stuff on dark markets and dark markets have boomed with the adoption of cryptos for payments.
BTC has attracted a lot of fishy activity, there is nothing to hide here.
It's not about being defensive, Blockchain is not as anonymous as the OP puts it and it definitely doesn't encourage criminal activities.
Criminals have made use of blockchain based currency and they'll continue to do so because it is valuable same way they make use of Dollars, Pounds and other Fiats; Elephant tusks and valuable mineral resources are not spared so I don't agree with the OP on this.
Criminals don't need encouragement, they make use of what is available.