With most top assets already commanding massive valuations, many investors are now looking for the best cryptos under $1 that can still deliver strong upside. Among the names attracting attention, Ripple (XRP) and Polygon (POL) remain key players, but a new DeFi project, Mutuum Finance (MUTM), is starting to take the lead in investor discussions for late 2025.
This shift is not surprising. As the market matures, traders are seeking value in early-stage projects that combine affordability with utility, offering more growth potential than legacy tokens already deep into their lifecycle.
Ripple (XRP)
Ripple’s XRP has been a dominant force in the cryptocurrency sector for years, mainly due to its focus on cross-border payments and partnerships with financial institutions. Currently, XRP trades near $2.20 with a market capitalization around $120 billion, placing it among the top ten cryptocurrencies by value.
Despite its strong legacy, XRP has been facing headwinds. The token has struggled to stay above key resistance zones between $2.40 and $2.70, levels that have repeatedly capped rallies over the past few months. On the downside, support sits near $2.00, where buyers typically step in. While the fundamentals behind Ripple remain solid, the sheer size of its market cap makes it increasingly difficult for XRP to deliver the kind of explosive growth that investors are chasing in newer, smaller-cap projects.
Many market commentators believe XRP’s next move will likely depend on broader market sentiment rather than its own innovation. Although it continues to play an important role in the payment-focused side of crypto, the token’s upside potential remains limited compared to emerging DeFi coins priced under $1.
Polygon (POL)
Polygon, now rebranded under the POL token, remains one of Ethereum’s most recognized scaling solutions. At the time of writing, POL trades around $0.17, with a market capitalization close to $1.74 billion. The network’s low fees and high transaction speeds have helped it maintain a loyal user base, though competition in the scaling space has intensified over the past year.
From a technical standpoint, POL is currently struggling to break above the $0.20 resistance zone, which has repeatedly acted as a ceiling for recent rallies. On the lower end, support lies near $0.15, though losing that level could trigger more downside. The token remains over 80% below its previous all-time high of around $1.29, showing that significant recovery would require major new demand or ecosystem expansion.
While Polygon remains a respected name in the layer-2 ecosystem, many investors see its growth curve as maturing. The project’s large supply, rebranding uncertainty, and rising competition from other networks are limiting factors that could make it difficult for POL to replicate its earlier bull-market performance.
Mutuum Finance (MUTM)
In contrast to these established names, Mutuum Finance (MUTM) has emerged as a fast-moving new crypto combining affordability with strong fundamentals. The project is building a decentralized lending and borrowing protocol aimed at creating transparent, efficient, and secure on-chain credit markets.
Mutuum Finance operates on a dual lending model that links liquidity providers and borrowers through smart contracts. Users who deposit crypto assets into the protocol receive mtTokens, which act as yield-bearing receipts, generating returns automatically based on market borrowing activity. This system lets depositors earn passive income while maintaining control of their assets — a key advantage over traditional lending systems.
Meanwhile, borrowers can access liquidity against their collateral through smart contract–based mechanisms that ensure over-collateralization and automatic liquidation protection. This balance between yield generation and capital efficiency is what makes Mutuum Finance one of the top DeFi cryptos to watch as the lending sector continues to expand.
Mutuum Finance’s presale has been among 2025’s most successful, with over $18.55 million raised and more than 17,850 holders onboard. The token has appreciated 250% since its launch — starting at $0.01 in Phase 1 and currently priced at $0.035 in Phase 6, which is now over 85% allocated.
The official launch price of MUTM is set at $0.06, meaning early participants could see an immediate gain once listings begin. In addition, the project’s 24-hour leaderboard rewards daily contributors with $500 worth of MUTM, encouraging constant community engagement and strengthening market activity.
Could MUTM Outperform XRP and POL?
The contrast between Mutuum Finance and larger-cap tokens like Ripple and Polygon lies in scale and timing.
Market Cap Advantage:
XRP’s $120 billion and POL’s $1.74 billion valuations make substantial short-term growth difficult. MUTM, by contrast, is still in its early growth stage, where even moderate demand can trigger exponential gains.
Utility Over Hype:
Unlike older projects facing saturation or limited innovation, Mutuum Finance is grounded in developing DeFi functionality, including lending pools, yield tokens, and interest-based tokenomics. Its buy-and-distribute model, which uses platform revenue to purchase MUTM on the open market and redistribute it to stakers, adds constant buying pressure, a structure that older assets lack.
Momentum and Timing:
With Phase 6 nearly sold out, Mutuum Finance is attracting both retail and whale investors seeking early exposure before its Q4 2025 V1 Testnet launch on Sepolia. The growing anticipation around this milestone has accelerated presale demand, making it one of the top crypto opportunities under $0.05.
Meanwhile, XRP and POL both face structural limitations, large supply, slow growth, and heavy market resistance, making it harder for them to deliver double- or triple-digit percentage returns in the near term.
Security, Transparency, and Road Ahead
One of the strongest confidence signals for Mutuum Finance comes from its CertiK audit, which earned an impressive 90/100 Token Scan score, confirming the reliability of its smart contracts. The project also runs a $50,000 bug bounty program and maintains a transparent, audited codebase, rare qualities among newer presales.
Mutuum Finance is currently in Phase 2 of its roadmap, titled Building Mutuum Finance, which focuses on smart contract testing, DApp interface development, and backend system integration. The upcoming V1 release will include Liquidity Pools, mtTokens, Debt Tokens, and a Liquidator Bot, forming the foundation of its decentralized credit ecosystem.
With its security-first approach, fast-selling presale, and upcoming testnet, Mutuum Finance has quickly become one of the most talked-about new DeFi projects of 2025. As XRP and POL continue to consolidate, MUTM stands out as one of the potential best crypto under $1 with significant room to grow in the coming months.