Robinhood Engineers Charged with Using Confidential Data for Crypto Trades

Two former Robinhood engineers, Hefu Chai and Huaisong Xiang (also known as Jerry Xiang), have been charged with commodities fraud and wire fraud for allegedly using confidential information to trade crypto perpetual futures on Hyperliquid.

The alleged scheme took place between 2025 and 2026, during which time the two engineers bought perpetual futures tied to specific cryptocurrency tokens on Hyperliquid ahead of Robinhood's public listing announcements.

Each alleged trade followed a similar pattern: buying before the announcement and profiting when the listing became public. Chai and Xiang reportedly each netted over $50,000 from their illicit trading activity.