For years, one of the most practical ways to spend cryptocurrency has been through digital gift cards. Platforms that convert Bitcoin, stablecoins, and other digital assets into retail vouchers have quietly become an important bridge between blockchain networks and everyday commerce.

But recent service interruptions have highlighted a reality that many crypto users are beginning to recognize: even the most established infrastructure platforms can experience downtime.

In early March 2026, the popular crypto gift card platform Bitrefill temporarily took parts of its service offline after identifying a security issue. While the company emphasized that user balances were safe and worked to restore functionality step by step, the…