Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs). I’ve also noticed (perhaps this is not recent though) the max cash limit at some ATMs reduced from $500 to $400. If you purchase $1000 or more in USPS money orders, the rep will take a copy of your government identification.
https://www.occ.treas.gov/topics/supervision-and-examination...
How would gift cards circumvent this? Dollar for dollar I can only imagine a transaction getting more attention if done in gift cards, certainly one over 10k probably isn’t even possible