Robinhood Employees Charged with Trading on Confidential Listings
Two engineers at Robinhood Markets have been charged by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for allegedly using confidential information to trade the cryptocurrency Hyperliquid.
Hefu Chai and Huaisong Xiang, also known as 'Jerry Xiang,' held positions at Robinhood that gave them access to undisclosed listings on the company's cryptocurrency platform, Robinhood Crypto. They used this non-public information to open perpetual futures positions in tokens before Robinhood announced its listing decisions.
The prosecution alleges that Chai and Xiang profited from price fluctuations following the public announcement of Robinhood's listing decisions, making over $50,000 each from these transactions between 2025 and 2026. The DOJ states that using confidential corporate information for personal gain in derivatives markets is illegal.
U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald emphasized that insiders cannot evade capital market and commodity laws by using perpetual futures or other financial instruments. FBI New York Office Deputy Director James C. Barnacle Jr. stated that the defendants used sensitive information obtained from their employers for their own benefit, and that the FBI will continue to act in similar cases.