While I think Ross Ulbricht fell into a lot of mistakes and mishandling, I don't think bitcoin has helped his privacy or gave protection against tracing. And if anyone doubts my words, here is a revealing as well as frightening piece of the brief. https://antilop.cc/sr/exhibits/GX-620.pdf https://antilop.cc/sr/exhibits/GX-940D.pdf
Here you will find many more things https://antilop.cc/sr/