Robinhood Engineers Face Charges for Alleged Crypto Insider Trading Scheme
Two former software engineers at Robinhood have been charged with commodities fraud and wire fraud for allegedly using confidential information about upcoming cryptocurrency listings to trade perpetual futures on the Hyperliquid platform.
Hefu Chai, age 36, served as technical lead overseeing digital-asset listings from approximately 2021 through May 2026, while Huaisong Xiang, age 30, worked as a software engineer focused on cryptocurrency listing operations from 2024 until September 2026.
The pair had 'Coin Aware' designation, which granted them access to a restricted Slack channel containing sensitive information about upcoming token listings. However, company guidelines prohibited employees with this access from engaging in trading activity within a 24-hour window surrounding listing announcements.
Prosecutors allege that both defendants systematically violated this policy by purchasing perpetual futures contracts on Hyperliquid for tokens scheduled for imminent Robinhood listings but not yet publicly announced. After the official announcements triggered price increases, they allegedly liquidated their positions at substantial gains, with each defendant generating profits exceeding $50,000 during 2025 and 2026.