Wouldn't that only work if you had places (like your landlord) taking Bitcoin off the blockchain directly for payment? Otherwise, transacting still requires the cooperation of intermediaries subject to sanctions. Maybe you can launder through a friend, but... it doesn't seem any easier.
It's massively easier. If at the time I had my money in bitcoin, I would just need to find willing trader (someone who would trade my bitcoin for making my rent payment). But because I didn't, and my bank account was frozen, I had to find someone to pay my rent _on credit_. I was lucky to have someone to turn to, I suspect not everyone is fortunate to have friends who are willing and able to help and trust someone with a frozen bank account.
And what also is scary, if I had been a real target and not bycatch, I bet anyone who helped me would've also faced the same asset freeze for helping me.
I tried out localbitcoin a bit before the pandemic. Absolute shit show. Nobody wanted to actually trade. Seemed like most participants were phishing for personal information, probably for identity theft.
