Crypto Spent $10M Trying to Win an Illinois Primary. 90% of It Failed. Here's What Actually Works.

Crypto lobbying groups burned through roughly $10 million on the 2024 Illinois primary, and by most measurable outcomes, 90% of that spending did not move a single vote in their intended direction. The candidates they backed lost. The narrative they wanted didn't land. The money evaporated into TV ads and mailers that nobody remembers. This is not a crypto story. It's a utility story. What $10M in Political Spending Actually Bought FairVote-adjacent analysis and Molly White's reporting make the mechanics clear: crypto PACs spent aggressively on Illinois state races to elect candidates sympathetic to lighter regulation. The results were, charitably, embarrassing. Most of the backed candidates underperformed. Some lost outright. The few wins that did happen were in races where the spending was marginal and the candidate likely would have won anyway. The problem wasn't the amount. $10 million is real money. The problem was that the spending was trying to manufacture something that wasn't