I think we agree on the facts. In the regular banking system, every transaction has to be approved by the authorities to happen.

With Bitcoin, just like cash, you can freely transfer it as you please.

The disagreement is if that is good or bad.

Since every bitcoin transaction is recorded, law enforcement is rather helped. There are "mixers" that supposedly allow to make it harder to figure out, but that didn't stop them from busting Silk Road !

The grandparent's use case of laundering it through an ATM in fact circumvents this.

Good point. These are at a high risk of being outlawed then...

Yes, the ability to control the currency and who people send money to is powerful and can be used for good, but often isn't. Just look at Venezuela, Zimbabwe, or all the other nations that inflated their currency out of existence or used it to fund genocides.

Perhaps nations would be less likely/able to do things like this if citizens were able to flee without leaving behind their life savings.

Luckily this is the year where we can stop arguing with the haters. If you haven't figured it out yet, I can't help you. The price speaks for itself