The US response should be interesting. Not sure how they could/would technically enforce sanctions.
Edit: Yes, I understand the banking tie in. I was thinking more of mining, and trading other cryptocurrency (monero maybe) for "bit-rials".
Edit: Yes, I understand the banking tie in. I was thinking more of mining, and trading other cryptocurrency (monero maybe) for "bit-rials".
All a cryptocurrency adds is a public record making that task easier and the hokum used to sell it may make the NSA’s job easier if people believe it’s anonymous. Setting up a separate one also means there’s less benign traffic to hide behind.
If the purpose is to allow Iranians to circumvent restrictions on international trade, then you encounter the problem of not many people wanting to swap their goods or dollars for crypto-rial. (If the purpose is to allow people to make payments within the Iranian banking system in accordance with Iranian law, the crypto layer is redundant)
China, Russia, Iran, and even Venezuela can play with cryptocurrencies, but when the money needs to go elsewhere, it has to be in a currency that people have faith in and is accepted everywhere.