I'm not ignoring non-PoW or non-BTC. The topic is big, and the case and data against cryptocurrencies literally have filled books.

But just to establish what you're saying, do you agree that PoW and BTC in particular is absolutely terrible for the world? Can we establish that?

I just want to make sure you're not selecting the parts I have not addressed in these comments and from there you're dismissing the things I have said.

If you can agree that PoW and BTC are awful, then there's no point in staying on that topic, but we can instead look at other parts. Otherwise it seems like a dishonest rhetorical device.

I don't know what countries you moved between, but what you did could be illegal. Or if not, the law may have not caught up yet, because the laws tend to be on the financial institutions, not the payer and payee. But probably the intention of the law is that it should be illegal.

Maybe. It depends how exactly the bitcoin was transferred.

I'm not a lawyer, but have a look at this:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-comply-with-eu-payments-r...
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/money-laundering-regulations-hig...

That's requirements on payment service providers, so (maybe?) not on you. With a decentralized payment service provider, a case could be made that you are the payment service provider of this transaction, but let's assume not, to not make it simple. Still, it is the intention of this EU law that somebody is, right? That's the world in which the law was written.

If you agree with this, that the intention was that somebody has KYC (Know Your Customer) requirements on your transaction, then as I see it the only remaining argument is that you think KYC laws should not exist.

I hope I've not misrepresented you so far. I honestly want to build a trail from your truly legit and moral transaction to what it means in the larger picture.

If you're against KYC I don't quite know what your argument is (it could be a good one), but they were in fact put in place for a reason. Your honest transfer "under the radar" has the same technical means as the ISIS sympathizer's, and the money laundering mob boss's, or the tax dodging wall street CEO's.

I'll assume that you're not an anarchist-libertarian who considers all government action to be theft, and "money laundering" to be a non-crime.

So… the real question is how do we allow transactions like yours, but not make crime like this be trivial under the same technical means?

So far it's by KYC. And KYC laws and enforcement are not perfect. But baby and bathwater. If your argument is that KYC is inherently bad, then I disagree, but don't make it a distraction while actually making a different point.

And if cryptocurrency is "just like cash", that means that, just like with cash, you legally have to report international money transfers:
https://www.mybanktracker.com/money-tips/money/travel-intern...

Do you think anyone has ever done this with bitcoin, or any other cryptocurrency? I assume not, because cryptocurrency people will pick and choose when it's "just like cash" and when it's not. Or they'll claim "it's not in a country, it's in cyberspace". But that's all clearly rationalizing to the point of trolling.

To summarize my point: The reason we can't have nice things, the reason there are fees and taxes on international money transfers, is that this is exactly the place where an uncountable amount of fraud and crime happens. It's not "clever" to go around KYC, it's illegal. (or if not technically illegal, the intent clearly was that it would be)

(I have more points against cryptocurrencies, but bringing up every topic at the same time will just be a big distracted mess. If we've agreed on PoW, and if you agree on KYC, then maybe we can do other arguments too)