We are different from other creatures because we have the right to choose what we want, and what we do not want. When this privilege is limited by those in authority, the so preached democracy and fundamental human rights are tampered with.
Mark Zukerberg once said, " The question isn't, what we want to know about people, but what do people want to tell about themselves".
When cryptocurrency came into the world, people welcomed it with open hands because of its decentralized nature but with time, people started to see some defects in the traditional blockchain where cryptocurrencies are built on. The anonymous creator of Bitcoin knew that it was a novel system, and thus saw the need to build it in an open blockchain. This made people accept this new digital financial system, but as time went on, people started seeing the side effects of a financial system built on an open blockchain. The ability for one to see transactions of other users and wallet balances as well makes it risky for users. There is no sense of privacy here as your friend can easily know your wallet balance once you send funds to him.
This was why Privacy Blockchains came into the picture to bring privacy to those who are not comfortable with the public blockchain. The government and regulators who are already seeing cryptocurrency as a threat came out in full force against Privacy coins. The allegations that they are being used for fraudulent activities such as money laundering and sponsoring of terrorists is something that might be true, but they fail to appreciate the fact that the fiat system is also used for sponsoring terrorist activities and money laundering as well. Today, most privacy blockchain-based projects are suffering due to the government regulations that have prevented their use in most countries. Only a few exchanges today allow the trading of privacy coins like Monero, Beam, Dash, etc.
Amidst the ongoing cryptocurrency hacks, I think people should be given the right to choose whether to have their fund on the open blockchain or not. Privacy is a right and shouldn't be limited. Finance is something crucial in people's lives and as such should be given all the possible protection. Privacy blockchain offers this protection such that details of transactions are only available to the sender and the receiver, and perhaps any other party given access to it.
Sadly, those whose operations are not visible to the citizens want to have full control of what the citizens do especially when it comes to their finances.
If the government wants money flow to be transparent, they should lead by example by adopting the open blockchain and using them to carry out financial activities.