PRED application: A new definition of the peer-to-peer exchange model in sports trading

Sports prediction markets are rapidly evolving, and a new approach is emerging in this industry. PRED’s CEO Amit Mahensaria is redefining sports trading through his visionary strategy. His application’s purpose is simple: to create a platform where the interests of users and the platform are fully aligned.

Exchange vs. Sportsbook: Fundamental Differences in Market Design

PRED is built on a simple yet revolutionary concept: it is an exchange, not a sportsbook. This difference is not just a matter of terminology but represents a profound change in market structure.

In traditional sportsbooks, users always trade against the house. The house sets the odds, takes the opposite side of each bet, and profits from winning bets. This setup creates an inherent conflict: the more money the house loses, the more it restricts or bans its top players. Every major sportsbook in the world has ultimately expelled skilled traders from its platform.

PRED’s application is completely opposite. Here, users trade directly with each other, and PRED simply connects buyers and sellers. It never takes the opposite side of any trade. PRED’s revenue comes from trading volume, not wins. That’s why Mahensaria says: “We make money when people trade, not when people lose.” This incentive alignment changes everything.

Comparing platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi, Mahensaria highlights an important point: PRED is specifically designed for sports trading, whereas general prediction markets only incidentally handle large volumes in sports. PRED’s internal architecture includes features like cross-matching, capital efficiency mechanisms, and live match handling—all optimized for the unique speed and volatility of sports markets.

Trade Execution in Under 200 Milliseconds: Technical Application on Base

In live sports markets, speed is not just a feature—it’s a matter of survival. A single soccer goal can change market prices by 30-40% within seconds. If a platform cannot keep pace, traders either miss valuable opportunities or get filled at stale prices. Both outcomes erode trust.

PRED’s application is clear here: execute trades in under 200 milliseconds. Compared to most on-chain prediction platforms, which take several seconds to confirm a trade, PRED’s speed is exceptional. Traditional sportsbooks take even longer during peak hours as they adjust lines. With this speed, when you see a price on PRED, you are truly filling at that same price—this is a rare difference.

This technical performance is enabled by building on Coinbase’s Layer 2 solution, Base. Mahensaria cites three reasons: first, transaction fees are fractions of a cent—important for trading users where gas costs can eat into profits. Second, Base offers finality in less than a second, which is essential for live sports markets. Third, the Base ecosystem is developing serious crypto applications that understand DeFi priorities—necessary for the exchange model to work.

At the technical architecture level, PRED combines off-chain order matching with on-chain settlement. This approach merges blockchain transparency with the performance of centralized exchanges. The result: the speed needed for live sports.

Never Limiting Winners: Structural Incentive Alignment

Perhaps PRED’s boldest stance is that it will never restrict or ban winning players. This policy is not just a marketing decision—it’s a direct consequence of the exchange architecture.

Mahensaria shares personal experiences behind this policy. Over his 22 years in sports trading, he has seen talented analysts and traders repeatedly expelled from platforms simply because they were good at their craft. These traders spend half their time on logistics—distributing funds across accounts, using friends and family’s names, and finding books that haven’t yet restricted them.

Traditional sportsbooks are forced to restrict winners because, structurally, every dollar they lose is a dollar of profit. When the house is your opponent, it’s logical for them to remove those who are winning, not those losing.

On PRED, this incentive structure is entirely different. The exchange profits from users’ trades, not their losses. As a result, more skilled traders who generate higher volume are the most valuable to the platform, not the biggest liability. Mahensaria explains: “We structurally cannot profit from your losses, so we have zero incentive to penalize your gains.”

This policy profoundly changes user behavior. On PRED, traders can think long-term about their strategies instead of constantly worrying about being restricted. On traditional platforms, skilled traders develop adverse habits—spreading activity across multiple accounts, deliberately losing some trades, and keeping small balances. On PRED, they can focus solely on their best markets.

Capital Efficiency: How 5-6% Native Yield on Deposits Works

Another unique feature of PRED is the 5-6% native yield on user deposits. This is unusual in modern prediction markets, and understanding its significance requires looking at what happens on traditional platforms.

Most sportsbooks or prediction platforms hold your deposits passively until you make a trade. If you’re waiting for the right market or price, your capital is doing nothing. On some platforms, deposits can remain idle for days or weeks.

PRED’s approach is different: your deposited capital remains in your account and generates income. PRED has partnered with institutional entities to earn yield on underlying stablecoin deposits. Additionally, since PRED does not have large marketing costs like deposit bonuses, it can pass a portion of trading fees back to users as income.

This philosophy reflects a deep principle: serious traders think about capital efficiency constantly. If you’re a professional, the opportunity cost of idle capital is real. By providing native yield, PRED allows traders to hold larger balances without sacrificing returns elsewhere. It removes a friction point most platforms do not even acknowledge.

This feature also makes a statement: “Your money should work for you.” It’s a simple principle, but one that very few in the industry follow.

22 Years of Experience, a Mission: The Journey Behind Building PRED

The entire architecture of PRED stems from Amit Mahensaria’s professional journey. His background spans investment banking, private equity, and developing an edtech platform (Impetus), acquired by Upgrade. But at its core is 22 years of sports trading experience.

Investment banking and private equity taught him how markets operate, how liquidity is structured, and how incentive alignment can make or break markets. Building Impetus showed him how to build user and institutional trust over time—through credibility, transparency, and consistent delivery.

But it’s his 22 years of personal sports trading that bring it all together. Mahensaria has experienced firsthand every problem PRED aims to solve: restrictions, slow platforms, withdrawal issues, and an industry that punishes trading skill.

“Frustration is what drives me to create an alternative,” he says. It’s this personal experience that makes PRED more than just a crypto product with sports added. It’s built by someone who understands both the infrastructure and the unique challenges of serious sports traders.

Long-Term Vision: Liquidity Depth and Community Building

In the next 12-24 months, PRED’s success can be measured in many ways—volume, liquidity depth, new sports, or how prediction markets integrate into the Web3 financial stack. But for Mahensaria, liquidity depth is the top priority.

He emphasizes that volume figures can be misleading. Real success happens when a trader comes to PRED, finds a market they want to trade, and is filled with genuine depth at competitive prices. That’s the core commitment.

In the near term, PRED is focused on building a base of serious, active traders rather than chasing registration numbers. Mahensaria states: “I don’t want millions of uncertain registrations; I want a few thousand committed traders generating real, sustainable liquidity.”

Expansion into new markets is fully on the roadmap. PRED has started with major leagues in football (English Premier League, UEFA Champions League, La Liga) and will soon expand into other sports. Importantly, it will not only add new sports but also diverse markets within the same leagues, catering to different user needs.

The big picture is about the future of prediction markets within Web3 finance. Mahensaria believes we are still in the early stages of understanding that sports outcomes are a tradable asset class with real analytical depth—not just entertainment. PRED has raised $2.5 million led by Accel, with participation from Coinbase Ventures. This investment signals confidence in this thesis.

“We’re building not just for the next cycle but for the long term,” Mahensaria concludes. It’s this long-term perspective that sets PRED apart from just another crypto project—it’s a serious effort to revolutionize markets.