Crypto investors are once again searching for the best crypto to buy now that can offer higher upside than the large caps. Historically, the strongest returns often came from assets that were still under the radar but close to activating real utility. According to analysts, one new cryptocurrency under $1 is beginning to enter that phase, and it is already showing early signs of accumulation ahead of 2027.
Mutuum Finance (MUTM) Presale and Protocol Vision
Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is a new cheap crypto project building a lending protocol that will allow users to supply and borrow crypto assets through smart contracts once the system is live. Instead of selling assets to unlock liquidity, users will be able to post collateral and borrow against it.
The project entered presale in early 2025 at $0.01 in Phase 1. Since then, the token has risen to $0.04 in Phase 7, reflecting a 300% appreciation during distribution. The presale has raised more than $19.8M with over 18,800 holders.
Out of the 4B total supply, 45.5% (1.82B tokens) has been allocated to presale participants. More than 830M tokens have been purchased so far, and the offering includes support for card payments, which helps broaden access beyond native crypto users. Early participants often compare this to the initial stages of major DeFi launches during prior cycles, where tokens rose substantially before opening for usage.
V1 Launch, Audit Foundation, and Initial Price Prediction
Mutuum Finance is currently preparing its V1 protocol for deployment. According to the official X account, V1 will activate on a testnet before moving to mainnet in Q1 2026. Once this occurs, borrowing, liquidation, and revenue mechanics will begin to surface — features that historically affect valuation for lending tokens.
Security validation has already been completed. The V1 codebase underwent a full audit with Halborn Security, a firm known for reviewing major DeFi platforms. The MUTM token also received a 90/100 rating on CertiK’s token scan, and a $50,000 bug bounty is active to capture vulnerabilities before mainnet.
Analysts believe that if V1 launches on schedule and participation grows during the first usage cycle, MUTM could trade in the $0.12 to $0.18 range during 2026, representing a 3x to 4.5x increase from current levels.
Revenue Mechanics and Second Price Prediction
Yield is an important part of the protocol design. When users deposit assets into liquidity pools, they will receive mtTokens that represent both the deposit and the accumulated yield generated by borrowers. For example, if someone supplies $1,200 in ETH at a 6% APY, the mtTokens will track both the principal and the growing balance over time.
The second layer is the buy-and-distribute system. A portion of protocol revenue will be used to purchase MUTM on the open market. MUTM purchased on the market will be redistributed to users who stake mtTokens in the safety module.
This model creates organic buy pressure tied to usage rather than attention cycles. Market commentators view this as a catalyst for post-launch repricing, since revenue-fed buy pressure can tighten available supply over time.
If mtToken demand increases during mainnet activity, analysts project the token could reach $0.25 to $0.32 during the mid-2026 window, which represents roughly a 6x to 8x increase from the current presale price. Additionally, a 24-hour leaderboard rewards the top daily participant with $500 in MUTM, creating ongoing competition for allocation rather than one-time entries.
Stablecoin and Layer-2 Plans
Stablecoins are expected to play a major role once the protocol is live. They allow borrowers to take loans in units that do not fluctuate during repayment, which makes the borrowing experience smoother during bull markets when asset volatility increases.
Mutuum Finance also plans to activate oracle pricing through Chainlink with fallback feeds, which helps ensure fair collateral valuation during liquidation events. Layer-2 expansion is also on the roadmap to reduce settlement friction and improve execution speed, a benefit for lending platforms that depend on timely liquidations.
In a broader adoption scenario, where stablecoin borrowing increases and Layer-2 participation expands the user base, analysts believe MUTM could move toward the $0.40 to $0.50 range by 2027. This would represent approximately 900% to 1,150% upside from the Phase 7 price and aligns with a target that could turn a $400 position into around $3,600 to $4,400 if projections hold under bullish conditions.
Why Timing Matters
Phase 7 has been selling out faster than earlier phases. Larger wallet allocations have been recorded during this stage, including one allocation estimated at roughly $115,000. Analysts interpret this as allocation tightening behavior that typically occurs near the end of structured token distributions.
This also explains why many traders looking for what crypto to buy now under $1 are tracking MUTM closely ahead of 2026. Once V1 activates, valuation will shift from roadmap expectations to usage-driven pricing, which historically benefits early entries.