The first half of January saw a flurry of activity in the crypto venture space. Between January 12 and 16, the sector pulled in $333M across 29 separate deals—a solid burst of capital flowing into the ecosystem. Bitcoin futures and spot ETF trading volumes hit $2.4B during the same window, reflecting sustained interest in BTC markets. Notably, Polygon made strategic moves by acquiring two payments-focused companies, signaling its push deeper into transaction infrastructure. A busy week that captured both institutional appetite and evolving layer-1 ambitions.