Not so much "despite" as "because."
But AFAICT it's not accurate, and KYC checks exist to prevent other forms of illegitimate activity (e.g. loan fraud associated with identity theft) which fit pretty neatly inside most definitions of "scam."
There's plenty of domain specific information I'm missing regarding cryptocurrency and I welcome discovering more. But when it comes to dealing in definitions -- examining what things are -- I'm plenty happy to continue to go to bat for observations that flow from relevant definitions: where the crypto-supporting bullet points tend to pile up around removed review/accountability (as with KYC) that seems likely to be more fertile ground for scamming, and where they pile up around reinventing existing functionality with marginal-to-questionable improvements (as with international transactions), it's easy to wonder if it's hype.
And when evangelism gets extra aggressive or resorts to tactics of high-control social groups, that doesn't help.
Ok, so by your definition cash is also a scam then too because it enables transacting without KYC.
Crypto benefits way more than just scammers. A non-significant portion of the population doesn't have access to banking. Not every country has the blessings of a stable currency, freedom of capital movement, and a sane government. Crypto enables borderless transactions and collateralized loans with low fees without being dependent on a country's institutions. In countries like Argentina that've experienced hyperinflation and bank runs, nobody has trusted banks and their Peso for a long time - preferring to hoard cash and deal in cash transactions, even for house purchases [1]. To Argentinians, crypto is a huge boon. I'd imagine the same in countries like Venezuela and Cuba.
Crypto also enables decentralized anonymous voting, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and decentralized finance (eg. trading, lending + borrowing, insurance). In 20 years I'd bet we'll see elections run on the blockchain with zero knowledge proofs.
Sure there are downsides as well, but it's tiring seeing shallow comments on here dismissing crypto as a "scam" despite the real value it's bringing to peoples' lives. Crypto is much more than just Ponzi schemes and ape NFTs.
