The main utility of Monero is being able to make anonymous transactions. The downside of the crime that this enables far outweighs whatever libertarian ideals I may be sympathetic to. It's just a bad idea for society.
This is a baseless claim -- virtually all criminal schemes in crypto have been done via ETH or BTC (most of which are token scams, and a small smattering of ransomware), which have transparent blockchains. Monero simply does not have the record of criminal activity that you claim.
More importantly, the vast majority of anonymous transactions occur via ownership secrecy havens. Quadrillions are held and transferred in offshore havens like Nevis, which has beneficiary and ownership secrecy baked into their constitution. Monero democratizes transaction secrecy, allowing the middle class to have the same level of financial privacy that criminal organizations attain regularly by incorporating in an offshore haven and hiring the appropriate lawyers. If transaction secrecy were a legitimate concern of yours, you would be eliminating it where it actually happens and facilitates crime first.
Do you say the same about cash? I am a fan of some molecules the government has erroneously classified as having "no medical use," and I tend to acquire these via cash routes. So cash also enables crime. Do you think we should transition to a fully networked currency that has perfect auditability for all transactions?
I'm sincerely asking. That appears to me the endpoint of the argument you make here. I might be wrong in my interpretation or conclusion, so please do correct any inaccuracies or leaps you find in my post.
I am not a fan of cryptocurrency, because I think it is stupid. But I am a fan of (actually) anonymous and privacy preserving currencies. So I can continue to not harm or victimize others, but acquire the molecules that make me the most functional.
This is certainly an ideal that libertarians hold, though I do not claim myself or my views as being particularly libertarian.
cash is hard but not impossible to track, especially at high volumes. An investigator could find which bank the bills went through, from there finding who may have withdrawn it. It also needs to be physically transported from place to place, meaning that there's some hope of tracking it down if there's enough reason.
More importantly, the vast majority of anonymous transactions occur via ownership secrecy havens. Quadrillions are held and transferred in offshore havens like Nevis, which has beneficiary and ownership secrecy baked into their constitution. Monero democratizes transaction secrecy, allowing the middle class to have the same level of financial privacy that criminal organizations attain regularly by incorporating in an offshore haven and hiring the appropriate lawyers. If transaction secrecy were a legitimate concern of yours, you would be eliminating it where it actually happens and facilitates crime first.