Atlas Plans USAFi Launch With Nasdaq ETF Backing and VARA Approval

Atlas plans to launch USAFi, a regulated permissionless digital security backed by a Nasdaq-listed ETF, under Dubai’s VARA framework in Q3 2026. The project marks economist Nouriel Roubini’s first move into digital assets after years as one of crypto’s most prominent critics.

• Key Takeaways:
• • Atlas plans to launch USAFi in Q3 2026 under Dubai VARA as an ETF-backed token.
• • Nouriel Roubini backs USAFi, signaling growing institutional support for tokenization.
• • USAFi will use Nasdaq-listed USAF reserves, targeting DeFi access and value preservation.

Nouriel Roubini Backs USAFi Token Launch After Years of Crypto Criticism

Nouriel Roubini, the economist long known for his sharp criticism of cryptocurrencies, is entering digital assets through Atlas Capital Team’s planned launch of USAFi, a regulated token backed by real-world financial assets.

Atlas Capital Team and its Dubai subsidiary, Atlas AI Labs, published a whitepaper co-authored by Roubini that outlines USAFi and a broader thesis the firm calls the “Technodollar.” The concept frames the next phase of dollar dominance around artificial intelligence (AI), digital infrastructure, and tokenized reserve assets.

USAFi is scheduled to launch in Q3 2026 under Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). Atlas said the token will be issued under VARA’s Asset Referenced Virtual Asset Rulebook.

ETF-Backed Token Targets Permissionless Finance

Atlas describes USAFi as the first regulated permissionless security. The product is designed as an ERC-20 token that can trade on permissionless chains while being backed by the Atlas America Fund, an SEC-registered, actively managed ETF listed on Nasdaq.

The fund’s reserve assets are custodied at the Bank of New York. Atlas said the structure is intended to bring institutional-grade collateral into decentralized finance while keeping 24/7 portability and onchain access.

Roubini said his shift from criticism to participation reflects the difference between speculative tokens and assets backed by diversified reserves. He commented:

VARA has developed a framework that embraces responsible innovation while maintaining the transparency and investor protection that institutional markets require.

Atlas Pitches the ‘Technodollar’

Atlas said USAFi is built around reserves diversified across Treasuries, gold, food, and strategic commodities, defense, cybersecurity, and industries being reshaped by AI.

Reza Bundy, Atlas Capital Team’s chairman and CEO, said the dollar has moved from the Gold Dollar to the Petrodollar and is now entering a third phase. He described the Technodollar as a digital reserve backed by exposure to America’s most productive AI-linked industries rather than a single commodity. Bundy said:

Atlas is an agentic, digital reserve infrastructure: AI runs the portfolio day to day within the rules our Investment Committee sets, the Committee makes the decisions, and we tokenize the instrument so it can be held and traded on chain.

For Atlas, USAFi is a bet that the next wave of tokenization will not be built only around stablecoins that move dollars, but around regulated digital assets designed to preserve purchasing power.