every trade desk anywhere

its been like this for half of bitcoin's existence

they consider themselves distinct from exchanges because they do not take custody of people's funds, in their opinion

As someone who sold Bitcoin on LocalBitcoins, and have 4 friends in federal prison (or detention), plus friends with millions in tainted BitCoin, this is not true.

Almost all illegal bitcoin stolen by hackers and ransomware is cashed out in countries with limited or no AML/KYC.