Fueling addictions and bypassing regulations in hundreds of countries isn't exactly a shining example of the technology.

I'm no fan of it either, but plenty of folks would view bypassing financial regulations as a shining example. That was part of the point, was to sidestep government oversight.

Another way of saying that is "to enable criminal activity."

Sure. But legality is separate from morality.

It's important to separate moral judgement from technical judgement. Even if I agreed with you on morality (which I don't on either count), addiction industries, including the legal ones like tobacco and games, have always been large and profitable, and avoiding various regulation has also been a big "meta-industry" for a long time.