Two Robinhood Engineers Indicted for Front-Running Crypto Listings on Hyperliquid

Two former Robinhood Crypto engineers, Hefu Chai and Huaisong Xiang (Jerry Xiang), have been indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice for insider trading. Prosecutors allege the pair used non-public information regarding upcoming token listings to open long positions in perpetual futures on the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid. Despite being restricted by company policy and internal 'Coin Aware' protocols, the defendants allegedly executed over 10 front-running trades each between 2025 and 2026, earning over $50,000 in illicit profits each. The charges include commodities fraud and wire fraud, with evidence linking their trading activity to specific listing schedules for assets such as MEW, MOODENG, HYPE, ENA, and POPCAT.