Robinhood Engineers Allegedly Made 20+ Pre-Listing Trades Despite 24-Hour Ban

Points of Focus

• Federal complaints allege at least 21 pre-listing trading occasions involving Hefu Chai and Huaisong Xiang.
• Both were barred from trading before Robinhood listing announcements and for 24 hours after.
• Prosecutors say each made over $50,000 trading Hyperliquid perpetuals tied to upcoming listings.

Two Robinhood engineers allegedly traded ahead of the company’s crypto listing announcements on at least 21 occasions combined, despite an internal policy restricting designated employees from trading around those announcements.

Federal prosecutors announced charges on Sept. 15 against Hefu Chai, 36, and Huaisong ‘Jerry’ Xiang, 30, for alleged commodities fraud and wire fraud. Prosecutors say both used confidential Robinhood listing information to open long perpetual positions on Hyperliquid and each earned more than $50,000.

Robinhood’s 24-hour trading ban covered other platforms

Robinhood classified both engineers as ‘Coin Aware Individuals,’ a restricted group with access to a private Slack channel where planned crypto listing dates were shared. Company policy barred those employees from trading on Robinhood or any other platform before a public listing announcement and during the following 24 hours.

Both men also received a May 2025 Slack reminder that the employee trading halt would apply. Chai worked as a technical lead responsible for new digital-asset listings, while Xiang was a software engineer involved in the listing process.

BREAKING: @RobinhoodApp ENGINEERS CHARGED WITH COMMODITIES FRAUD AND WIRE FRAUD ARISING FROM A SCHEME TO MISAPPROPRIATE CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION FROM THEIR EMPLOYER, ROBINHOOD MARKETS, INC. (“ROBINHOOD”), AND USE THAT INFORMATION TO TRADE PERPETUAL FUTURES ON… pic.twitter.com/cNlNXzgwQt

— DEGEN NEWS (@DegenerateNews) September 15, 2026

Hyperliquid trades allegedly preceded Robinhood listings

Chai’s complaint describes at least 10 alleged pre-listing trading occasions. Xiang’s complaint identifies an initial POPCAT trade in March 2025 and at least 10 other occasions through February 2026, putting the combined minimum at 21.

The complaints identify MEW and MOODENG among trades linked to both men around Robinhood’s May 22, 2025 listings. Chai’s filing also names ASTER, XPL, HYPE, ENA, AERO, SYRUP, LDO, DOT and LIT, while Xiang’s complaint details ONDO and RENDER among later trades.

Robinhood also told investigators that a token can become tradable on its platform up to one hour before the company publicly announces the listing. Prosecutors allege several positions were closed during that window, after trading opened on Robinhood but before the announcement reached the public.

Robinhood said it investigated the matter and reported it to law enforcement and regulators. Xiang’s lawyer, Robert Stahl, said his client denies the charges. The charges remain allegations, and both men are presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Each faces one Commodity Exchange Act count carrying up to 10 years in prison and one wire-fraud count carrying up to 20 years.