Robinhood Engineers Charged Over Alleged Crypto Trading Scheme
Two former Robinhood engineers have been charged by the US Department of Justice for allegedly using confidential company information to trade crypto on Hyperliquid.
Hefu Chai and Huaisong Xiang, both former employees of Robinhood Crypto, are accused of using non-public information about upcoming cryptocurrency listings on the platform to make profitable trades between 2025 and 2026.
The two engineers allegedly bought perpetual futures linked to tokens that Robinhood was preparing to list before announcing them publicly. They traded on Hyperliquid before the listings were made public, making more than $50,000 from each trade.
Both men have been charged with commodities fraud and wire fraud, which carry maximum sentences of 10 years and 20 years in prison, respectively.