Buying a house in the United States? This has never been easy for ordinary people. The average house price is stuck at the threshold of $400,000, and the vast majority of people have to rely on bank loans to manage the down payment. The bank is very strict when reviewing loans—checking your pay stubs, verifying your account balance, digging into your retirement account statements, and they almost want to uncover your financial situation completely.

However, the rules of the game may change.

In June 2023, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) in the United States dropped a bombshell: it required the government-backed giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to incorporate cryptocurrency into their mortgage risk assessment systems. In other words, the Bitcoin and Ethereum in your wallet might actually help you unlock the doors to bank loans.

FHFA Director Bill Pulte is quite excited about this. He candidly stated that the policy aims to embody Trump's grand vision of "making America the global crypto hub." This is undoubtedly good news for those who treat digital assets as a store of wealth — cryptocurrencies have finally squeezed their way from the fringes into the core stage of traditional finance.

But don't celebrate too early. This policy is not a clear green light in Washington. The majority of the Republican camp wholeheartedly supports it, but the Democrats are in an uproar. Elizabeth Warren has come out against it along with a group of Democratic lawmakers, and their reasons are nothing new - concerns about risks and questioning regulation. Thus, a policy that should have been about discussing financial innovation has been dragged into the quagmire of partisan struggles.

Ultimately, this debate hides a deeper question: do digital assets count as "real money"? Should banks recognize this account?