Roubini to launch USAFi token backed by Nasdaq ETF

Economist Nouriel Roubini, a longtime critic of cryptocurrencies, is launching a regulated digital asset called USAFi, marking his first formal entry into the blockchain space. The token, scheduled for launch in the third quarter of 2026, will be issued in Dubai under the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority’s regulatory framework and is backed by a Nasdaq-listed exchange-traded fund.

USAFi is structured as a permissionless ERC-20 token directly collateralized by the Atlas America Fund, an actively managed ETF listed under the ticker USAF. The fund, which Roubini helps oversee, holds a diversified portfolio including U.S. Treasuries, gold, real estate, and commodities. The token’s reserves are custodied at the Bank of New York Mellon.

Roubini’s involvement follows years of public skepticism toward digital assets, where he frequently labeled many projects as speculative or fraudulent. In recent commentary, he argued that while stablecoins serve a practical payment function, they fail to protect against inflation because they are pegged to fiat currencies. He stated that stablecoins are a very imperfect way of providing hedging, as they are essentially a digital version of a fiat...