The thing is you kind of need KYC because otherwise it becomes too easy to launder money. Most countries have previously had problems with organized crime. In the US, the mafia had immense control in some cities in the early to mid 1900s. They're gone, in part, because of processes like KYC.

Many countries still have problems with organized crime, and it's getting worse even though they have aggressive KYC and AML. Israel is one example I'm familiar with. So it's a bit more complicated than that.

I understand the goal of KYC/AML, and maybe in some places it's implemented correctly. But from my limited experience in the EU, it can be easy for criminals to avoid it, but it makes my life difficult for no good reason (both for privacy violation and for times when it is simply fails).