@Dysnomia

There's no way to develop anonymity systems that can protect one category but not the other.

That's not entirely true. The key difference is that "distribution" is a one-way problem (solved by any number of dead drop methods), but trying to then profit from that act makes it a two-way problem. It's the act of trying to collect money that gets these sorts of criminals caught, because getting paid means giving a way for the money to find you, and the cops can trace the same path. That's why crooks launder money or, in the case of Bitcoin, use mixers.

Because when the shit hits the fan (and it will), if genuine anonymity is not possible, then dissent will also be impossible.

Only secret dissent. In most cases, when the cause is just, there is greater value in having an identifiable person be the face of a movement. The history books aren't full of anonymous martyrs. b1933603b4506245dc93f721cbd8af446cd931f75ce16c18a84a1b4f7c1c9a38