Securitize has tokenized economist Nouriel Roubini's Atlas America Fund into USAFi, a digital security registered under Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). Bank of New York Mellon holds custody.
The move illustrates a regulatory arbitrage now emerging in digital asset infrastructure. By issuing USAFi under VARA rather than pursuing secondary registration with the SEC, the arrangement sidesteps a layer of US securities oversight while maintaining institutional-grade custody. The tokenization itself targets institutional collateral use cases, aiming to enable round-the-clock settlement and portability that traditional fund share transfers do not offer.
Atlas America Fund is an SEC-registered fund that holds US equities and treasury futures. Securitize's selection as the tokenization partner signals institutional-grade expectation around the wrapper. However, the specifics of who may trade USAFi, on which venues, and whether US investors face restrictions remain unclear from available disclosures. Securitize did not immediately respond to questions about investor eligibility or secondary market rules.
The structure sits in a regulatory gray zone. US law does not explicitly prohibit US citizens from holding digital versions of US-registered funds issued under foreign frameworks, but the SEC has shown scrutiny of such products. No formal guidance from the SEC on this particular model has been issued, meaning market participants are interpreting existing rules rather than following a settled path.
BNY's involvement as custodian lends weight. The bank has been gradually building digital asset infrastructure and has custody relationships across multiple jurisdictions. Its participation suggests comfort that the arrangement meets institutional standards, though BNY did not comment on the specific regulatory rationale for the Dubai-first structure.
The broader context matters. As institutions seek faster settlement and cross-border collateral agility, tokenization of traditional funds has become more common. But most US-domiciled products either remain wrapped in US regulation or are issued to non-US investors. This model attempts to serve institutional buyers globally while maintaining the underlying fund's SEC registration and US asset holdings, a layering that regulators have not yet explicitly endorsed or blocked.
Securitize and VARA have not announced a launch date or investor caps. Any regulatory signals from the SEC or further guidance from Dubai's framework will likely shape whether similar deals follow or whether the structure faces friction.