Of course it's treated as tainted, in a transparent system any attempts to get some privacy or anonymity are seen as suspicious. Bitcoin is a total financial surveillance project on the base chain, few understand this, and even fewer are ready to begin to understand it. This is why every non-maxi OG (which is most of them) I know uses #monero Haters will say it's shitcoining, people who really care about p2p digital cash understand you can't have that without privacy.