True, but if you go down that route there's no reason for a remote server at all. (Cf. pass.) I was just suggesting what seems to me a likely cause, since everyone was talking about 'phoning home' and 'remote disabling' as though it was intentional or more dodgy.
The remote server provides backup and sync in a convenient format which will lead to more people using password managers.
When it's down you only need to lose backup and sync.
Refusing to unlock your local database because it made some check on the backup and sync server is precisely remote disabling and is a great reason to transition off of bitwarden as it is a pretty good sign of them testing the waters for vendor lockin.