The economist and critic of cryptocurrencies Nouriel Roubini is leading the development of a tokenized asset to combat fears of economic stagnation and rampant inflation.
Roubini has long been a skeptic of the cryptocurrency space., which makes his own foray into the world of digitized financial instruments intriguing. In his role as co-founder and chief economist of Dubai-based investment firm Atlas Capital Team LP, Roubini is helping with the deployment of a suite of financial instruments to launch a security token that will act as a “more resilient dollar.”.
As Bloomberg initially reported, Atlas Capital CEO Reza Bundy and Roubini outlined initial plans for the firm’s new products, driven primarily by the current state of the global economy.
The Dubai-based company will work with Web3 developer Mysten Labs, which will build the technology behind the United Sovereign Governance (USG) gold-optimized dollar..
What highlighted Roubini in a tweet on Monday, the USG will start as a traditional index offering total return swaps to major investors. Atlas hopes to expand this offering to an exchange-traded fund before transitioning to a tokenized version.
According to the report, USG would be backed by real-world assets, including short-term US Treasury bonds, gold, and real estate investment trusts. The offering will target major investors such as sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and possibly central banks exposed to dollar-backed assets..
In an opinion piece published in The Guardian in early May, Roubini highlighted the current global socioeconomic climate and its pressure on the US dollar, which has long been the world’s reserve currency..
Roubini outlined an unforeseen consequence of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The US dollar’s role as a central instrument in global sanctions enforcement inevitably weakens fiat currency over time. He said:
“Not only does it create serious friction in international trade in goods, services, raw materials and capital, but it encourages America’s rivals to diversify their foreign exchange reserves away from dollar-denominated assets.”
Roubini believes that this could strongly weaken the dollar and accelerate the creation of regional monetary systems.. Hence the initiative to launch “a new instrument that is effectively a more resistant dollar.”
The Atlas note outlining the plans for the USG launch also closes with some negative comments towards the cryptocurrency space.. The note stated that cryptocurrencies are not backed by anything – just vaporware – and do not provide revenue or usage or other utility services, thus they are purely speculative asset bubbles.
Clarification: The information and/or opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views or editorial line of Cointelegraph. The information set forth herein should not be taken as financial advice or investment recommendation. All investment and commercial movement involve risks and it is the responsibility of each person to do their due research before making an investment decision.
Keep reading:
Investments in crypto assets are not regulated. They may not be suitable for retail investors and the full amount invested may be lost. The services or products offered are not aimed at or accessible to investors in Spain.