Federal prosecutors have charged two Robinhood engineers with commodities fraud and wire fraud, alleging they traded crypto perpetual futures before their employer announced new token listings. The complaints against Hefu Chai and Huaisong Xiang were unsealed September 15 in Manhattan. Prosecutors say the pair used confidential information about whether and when Robinhood Crypto would support particular assets.

Both men had access to listing plans through their jobs, according to the complaints. Between 2025 and 2026, they allegedly bought perpetual futures linked to the relevant tokens on Hyperliquid before Robinhood's public announcements. A perpetual future lets a trader gain exposure to an asset's price without holding the asset and has no fixed expiry date. Prosecutors allege each defendant made more than $50,000 from the trades.

The case turns on how the information was obtained and used. Robinhood's future listings were not public when the positions were allegedly opened, and the engineers had a duty to keep company information confidential. Prosecutors characterize the trades as misuse of that access for personal gain. Robinhood cooperated with the investigation, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office; the company itself is not identified as a defendant in this case.

Each engineer faces one count under the Commodity Exchange Act and one wire fraud count. The charges do not establish that either committed the offenses; the case will proceed through the courts. Its focus on Hyperliquid also shows how a token listing announcement can affect derivatives markets outside the exchange making the announcement, extending the reach of confidential listing information.