The ick and black mirror vibes comes from the technical fact that bitcoin is non fungible and publicly traceable by design making it a surveillance states dream.
Luckily there are superior alt coins that don't have that flaw.
Turns out if you only look at people trying to turn a profit you will find bad people. It's like complaining about investment being seedy because you only watch wallstreetbets.
That should be the point where the intellectual curious hacker should try to broaden there horizon beyond the superficial surface.
I don't see the seedy nature you try to apply to a whole industry if anything i experience the opposite.
Luckily there are superior alt coins that don't have that flaw.