Economist Nouriel Roubini has co-authored a whitepaper for USAFi, a planned tokenized version of the Nasdaq-listed Atlas America Fund.

Tokenization platform Securitize said the project marks his first move into blockchain after years of criticizing cryptocurrencies as a “pseudo-asset class.”

Atlas Capital Team, a Dubai-based investment firm, said it plans to launch the blockchain-based security in the third quarter under Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA).

Securitize will provide the tokenization infrastructure.

VARA regulates virtual assets in Dubai, and a legal analysis of its updated rules says tokenized real-world assets require authorization before issuance or offering.

The underlying product trades as USAF on Nasdaq and is an actively managed exchange-traded fund investing across US Treasuries, real estate investment trusts, gold trusts, commodity exposure, bonds, and other securities.

The launch adds to a wider tokenization push by firms including BlackRock and Franklin Templeton.

BlackRock’s BUIDL has grown to over US$2 billion, while tokenized assets total more than US$30 billion, excluding stablecoins, according to rwa.xyz.

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🔗 Source: CoinDesk