Serial entrepreneur and Unicoin cryptocurrency co-founder Alex Konanykhin launched his latest venture at the Prediction Conference in Las Vegas last month.
SafeBets, says Konanykhin, is “a first of its kind prediction platform where users can earn substantial rewards” without risking any of their own money.
“SafeBets introduces something the financial worlds has never seen – risk-free betting,” says Konanykhin. “Many people have the analytical skill to read markets better than the crowd, but to date, there has been no accessible, risk-free way to be rewarded for it.”
Naturally, SafeBets is powered by unicoins. Users receive 100 free unicoins [an asset-backed cryptocurrency developed by Konanykhin and his partners] when they sign up at no cost. This enables them to make their first 100 predictions across crypto, equities, commodities, and currencies with no deposit – and thus none of their own assets at risk.
The SafeBets proprietary algorithm, which Konanykhin calls the Collective Intelligence Engine, evaluates each prediction against real, time-stamped market outcomes and scores each forecaster on accuracy, consistency, and the magnitude of their calls.
The unicoins, which Konanykhin markets as “the Smart Coin for Smart People,” can be mined on SafeBets through Proof-of-Intelligence. SafeBets executive director Gina Antoniello, who doubles as a NYU professor, explains that anyone can join, but only the genuinely skilled rise, as their intelligence generates real, measurable value in real financial markets.
The SafeBets platform rewards the “intelligent” at a scale not previously possible by building fundamentally new relationships between individual insight and institutional trading. SafeBets intends to allocate 15 to 25 percent of its revenues to purchasing unicoins on crypto exchanges in order to increase liquidity and price stability – a move that will give Unicoin a fundamental economic grounding that most cryptocurrencies lack, says Konanykhin.
Konanykhin envisions the SafeBets-Unicoin ecosystem as a self-reinforcing flywheel in which accurate predictors earn unicoins that grow in value with the platform’s trading success. As the token value rises, it should attract a larger and sharper user base that generates even stronger signals and produces greater trading profits.
The SafeBets model is designed for unrestricted global expansion because it operates entirely outside the gambling classifications that have constrained traditional prediction markets to select jurisdictions. The reason? The SafeBets platform accepts no financial wagers and places no user capital at risk. Everyone is playing, effectively, with house money.
Konanykhin is thinking big here, with a target of 200 million users and $10 billion in annual trading profits by 2030. But “big” is a relative term. Prediction industry volume totaled just $500 million in 2022 but rose to $63.5 billion in 2025. This 127-fold increase over a three-year period itself pales in comparison to the projections, made by the research firm Eilers & Kreicik, that the sector will attract $1 trillion in annual trading volume by 2030.
SafeBets chief investor relations officer Alex Dominguez believes that SafeBets’ risk-free betting concept is so unique, intriguing, and appealing that over a billion people may try their prediction skills on SafeBets once the platform adds sports predictions.
But the deeper purpose behind this platform is to introduce each player to Unicoin and its advantages as a vehicle for making predictions on SafeBets.world. Dominguez envisions the Unicoin community becoming larger even than Bitcoin and every other cryptocurrency thanks to SafeBets – because the human ego can hardly resist the opportunity to bet and win with no risk of losing.
Introducing the new product at the inaugural Prediction Conference was a stroke of genius, as those already willing to test their prediction skills using their own money are likely the very best candidates for testing those skills without using their own money – or violating any laws.
Unicoin, which was birthed during the Unicorn Hunters television series that Konanykhin co-produced, seemed an odd target for a regulatory onslaught that began during Gary Gensler’s term as SEC Commissioner - even though Unicoin was the only publicly reporting and audited cryptocurrency firm in the U.S. at the time and provided near-daily updates on its objectives, challenges, strategies, and achievements.
As further evidence of the firm’s commitment to openness, Unicoin’s co-founder, Silvia Moschini, on April 17 launched the Unicoin Foundation as a mission-driven organization dedicated to leveraging blockchain technology to create meaningful social impact and expand access to the digital economy.
Konanykhin says the foundation will advance “Crypto for Good” and expand global financial inclusion – a goal that dovetails with the launch of the SafeBets platform. “We are creating a structure [in the Unicoin Foundation] that not only advances responsible innovation but also expands access to opportunity – ensuring that the benefits of digital assets are more inclusive, transparent, and meaningful for communities worldwide.”
