See the original comment: the point is that there's no actual way to verify the central claim ("$3B in Bitcoin was sold [...]"). We're expected to take everyone's word for it. This is in marked contrast to how two arbitrary users are expected to transact via a blockchain.
How would you verify that something was sold outside of a blockchain? The receiver of the item would need to prove it's in their possession, which is pretty easy on BTC.
I guess I'm not sure how you get from that to privacy only being achievable by institutions?
I didn't. That's not a property I want in a financial system; it's one I want in a legal system.
The only points being made are that (1) virtually nobody actually wants their entire life's transactions recorded on an immutable public ledger, and (2) the people whose economic activity currently backs the speculate value of these coins play by a different rulebook entirely.
As in, they are keeping funds on centralized exchanges? Users can do the exact same thing if they want, not sure I get your point.