"The Asians absolutely love it because it means nasty intrusive governments can't take away their money."

But hackers can take it away. Why bother getting paid in bitcoin for ransomeware if you can just rob the bitcoin repository?

https://www.google.ca/#q=bitcoin+theft

Mt. Gox, Bitfinx, ponzi schemes, social engineering and conventional fraud methods.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/mar/18/history-of-bitcoin-hacks-alternative-currency