If the whole point of crypto-currencies, anonymity, is an illusion, I’d expect its value to drop to zero. Because while precious metals are a barbarous relic as stores of value, they do have practical uses both in industry and for ornamentation. Whereas crypto-currencies without secrecy are just an elaborate Ponzi scheme.
Those in crypto-currencies know and have known that Bitcoin is only kind of anonymous. It is anonymous until someone starts digging into the origins of the transaction. (ATM they used, time, date, etc. to purchase it).
Now other more anonymous coins have been developed.
Anonymity is only one benefit/use of crypto. There are others (no permission needed by government to use it, global, distributed (not centrally controlled).
Crypto is like the internet in the 90s. It will change things considerably but it may still be a few years off.
The “whole point” of Bitcoin is hardly anonymity. The crucial features are:
1. Decentralization. No bank or corporation or government “owns” Bitcoin beyond whatever amount they are willing to buy. There is no central point of control which can “turn off” Bitcoin or stop people from exchanging it, short of taking down the entire Internet and power grid.
2. Accountability. Every transaction is engraved in the blockchain and there it remains immutable for all time.
3. Immune to confiscation. Not being a physical item, there is nothing to steal except information. If you keep your private key (a string of characters) completely to yourself, you keep your Bitcoin no matter what.
4. Limited supply. There can never be a supply of Bitcoin above a definite limit of 21 million. At the moment roughly 17 million have been mined. The mining algorithm becomes ever more difficult as the overall supply increases. A Bitcoin cannot be produced without a significant investment in hardware and electrical power. Consider the contrast with fiat money, which has unlimited supply and costs less than zero to mint, because of interest paid on fiat newly produced by debt generation (a loan).
The bottom line is that Bitcoin and other cryptos are a more advanced medium of exchange which can only exist in a computerized society. They have attractive features (see above) which are not possible with fiat or PM. Owning Bitcoin is basically placing a long term bet that the best form of money will eventually win out and prevail.