Comment by BrainlingPdx

Then you aren't paying attention. It's heavily used for money laundering and dark purchases. Yes the ledger is public, but there is almost no verification of the principals. It's nearly completely anonymous if you aren't a complete fool in how you setup the shells. Anonymity is the core of high volume laundering. You should do just a tiny bit of research of you think most of the major cryptocurrencies aren't massive laundering vehicles.