I have bought my first coins in very early 2013, and never have I seen anyone praise Bitcoin's 'anonymous' nature as selling feature. The selling features were that Bitcoin was a decentralized currency that people can use without third party interference, which is still the case, and that Bitcoin was fast and cheap. In todays world Bitcoin is still fast in terms of transaction speed, but it isn't exactly the cheap currency tool anymore that people were excited about back in the days, that's a fact. I must however point out that Bitcoin by design would make the fees play a more and more important role as years go by. Other than that, Bitcoin is an open internet book that everyone in the world (even when you're not a Bitcoiner at all) can browse through. There is no such a thing as privacy anymore, and especially not when it comes to coins that people withdraw from exchanges. All coins are tainted in one way or another.