Crypto spent an estimated $245–$250 million across the 2024 election cycle, more than oil and gas, pharma, and Citadel combined per OpenSecrets, and this week it started collecting. Better Home & Finance and Coinbase announced a mortgage product that lets borrowers pledge crypto as collateral for a Fannie Mae-conforming loan, a first in U.S. housing finance. Simultaneously, the White House wrapped up its review of a Labor Department rule that would open Americans’ 401(k)s to Bitcoin. For anyone surprised or terrified, the spending figures above are your explanation.

This is a genuinely historic structural shift in U.S. housing finance,…