This is a thoughtful post. I tend to agree with it, but most of the leaders are going to be developers. Who knows what reasons they have for being anonymous. We can't really expect them to put their identity out there for the world to screw with. It would be nice if there was more upside for a person than downside, but just look at how a team of trolls appeared and spent all day (June 12th) attacking UF and NEM. Now in the case of UF, he somewhat deserved it, but it isn't necessarily that smart to have your identity tied to a project. NXT, BTC, PPC and others have all be quite successful with anonymous leaders/devs.
I am not sure about your last statement but I believe NXT is well represented and "identified".
https://xrptalk.org/topic/3116-nxt-goes-mainstream-payexpo-sms-payments-atms-nxtcafe-and-market-gains/Most "anonymous" coins after the first few coins tend to go into oblivion. A classic case of high visibility is ethereum. They have been upfront with all their cards opened in the first place. Look where they are now. Nevermind if it is vaporware or not. It has yet to be seen. Fact is, they have opened their cards and stripped themselves naked for all to see. What's more satisfying to know as a result of that is that you have a huge following of developers contributing.
Besides, if we have a face to a name, this can be promoted on the ground rather than purely virtual as is now. Further, in this game we are playing, there has been too many scams and therefore trust is of utmost importance. Whatever it is, our leader who resigned had not been forthcoming with his honesty. And that's when it is more important now than ever that we need to have a name to the face of the new leader and not just some pseudonym. That can only make matters worse.
It was my understanding that BCNext was and is anonymous. Putting together enough donations to have a representative show up at a conference is not the same.
Ethereum isn't really valid since it isn't a product yet ? Yes, they've marketed well. I am not sure how they are funded, but not everything is equally possible given the limitations of the funding model.
I don't disagree with your general sentiment, I'm just telling you that the leader of all coins if pretty much the lead developer. If you want top notch dev talent, you can't expect them to put their name out there so they can be swatted or worse.