# Huaisong Xiang

> Huaisong Xiang is a former Robinhood engineer and finance professional who in 2026 was charged by federal prosecutors with allegedly trading on confidential Robinhood Crypto token‑listing information.

- Canonical URL: https://iq.wiki/wiki/huaisong-xiang
- Categories: People in crypto
- Tags: Developer
- Created: 2026-09-15T19:16:06.925Z
- Last updated: 2026-09-15T19:32:46.977Z
- Source: IQ.wiki — the world's largest blockchain and crypto encyclopedia (https://iq.wiki)

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**Huaisong Xiang**, also known as **Jerry Xiang**, is a former engineer at [Robinhood](https://iq.wiki/wiki/robinhood-chain) Markets who, on September 15, 2026, was charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York with commodity fraud and wire fraud for allegedly using his employer's confidential [cryptocurrency](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency)-listing plans to trade ahead of public announcements, in a case concerning alleged front-running of Robinhood Crypto token listings via perpetual futures trading on [Hyperliquid](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hyperliquid).[[4]](#cite-id-ql2f2p18ix)​[[5]](#cite-id-u10wvxamtj) The case was brought by the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and names a co-defendant, Hefu Chai, who worked alongside Xiang and, according to the government, had the same workplace access to Robinhood's internal listing information.[[3]](#cite-id-pqr2bbfaz8)​

Prosecutors allege that between 2025 and 2026 Xiang repeatedly opened positions on [Hyperliquid](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hyperliquid), a decentralized derivatives exchange, in perpetual futures tied to tokens that Robinhood Crypto was about to list, and that he earned more than $50,000 in illicit proceeds when the listings became public and moved the tokens' prices.[[5]](#cite-id-u10wvxamtj)​

## Education

Xiang received a Master of Engineering degree in financial engineering from Cornell University in 2020, where he also completed a financial data science certificate. He previously earned a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and applied mathematics and statistics from Stony Brook University in 2018, graduating summa cum laude and receiving multiple academic honors.[[7]](#cite-id-PzpNoVPluDUUPhMs) 

## Career

Before the federal charges, Xiang worked in quantitative finance and trading roles. From February 2021 to December 2023 he was an assistant vice president and quantitative researcher at Genesis, focusing on crypto market making, smart execution algorithms, machine learning–based price prediction, delta-one and central risk book management, and high-frequency trading systems. Earlier, he spent about a year at Citigroup in New York as a quantitative analyst, working on transformer and generative-model approaches to market spoofing detection, synthetic order generation, and order book dynamics. His earlier experience includes research assistant work at Cornell Financial Engineering Manhattan in 2020 in collaboration with Citi’s rates trading business, a machine learning project analyst role at Parable Insight on an equity long/short strategy in 2019, and a quantitative analyst internship at Group One Trading on options pricing in 2019.[[7]](#cite-id-PzpNoVPluDUUPhMs) 

## Allegations
According to the indictment as reported, Xiang and Chai, by virtue of their roles at Robinhood, had access to nonpublic information about which cryptocurrencies Robinhood Crypto would list on its platform and when those listings would occur.[[3]](#cite-id-pqr2bbfaz8) Prosecutors say the two engineers had a duty to keep that information confidential and that they instead converted Robinhood's internal listing plans into advance knowledge about events that could move crypto markets.[[2]](#cite-id-6o3w88kd73)​

The government's theory is that, between 2025 and 2026, Xiang and Chai repeatedly took positions in perpetual futures contracts on [Hyperliquid](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hyperliquid) that were tied to cryptocurrencies Robinhood Crypto planned to list, doing so before Robinhood publicly announced those listings and then profiting from the price movements that followed.[[4]](#cite-id-ql2f2p18ix)​[[5]](#cite-id-u10wvxamtj) Each defendant is alleged to have profited more than $50,000 from the scheme.[[5]](#cite-id-u10wvxamtj) Prosecutors characterize the conduct as turning confidential information about upcoming Robinhood Crypto token listings into a trading signal used on a separate on-chain derivatives exchange.[[6]](#cite-id-sfa6hl6lh2)​

The instruments at the center of the case are perpetual futures, or "perpetuals," which allow traders to speculate on an asset's price without owning the underlying asset and, unlike conventional futures, carry no expiration date.[[2]](#cite-id-6o3w88kd73) Because the tokens were traded through [Hyperliquid](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hyperliquid), an on-chain decentralized exchange, the case tests the application of established markets law to derivatives that settle on [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) infrastructure. Prosecutors emphasized that although perpetual contracts trade on on-chain derivatives platforms, they remain financial instruments subject to enforcement.[[4]](#cite-id-ql2f2p18ix)​

## Charges and Penalties
Xiang and Chai each face one count of commodities fraud under the Commodity Exchange Act, the federal statute governing commodity and derivatives markets, and one count of wire fraud, which covers schemes to defraud carried out through electronic communications.[[4]](#cite-id-ql2f2p18ix) The SDNY described the two charges as commodity fraud and fraud via electronic communications.[[3]](#cite-id-pqr2bbfaz8)​

The commodities fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years' imprisonment, and the wire fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years' imprisonment.[[4]](#cite-id-ql2f2p18ix) Xiang was set to appear in federal court in the Southern District of New York.[[1]](#cite-id-v9411zt75n) The allegations in the indictment are charges only, and both Xiang and Chai are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.[[2]](#cite-id-6o3w88kd73) As of September 15, 2026, the case remains at the charging stage, with no adjudicated findings or convictions reported.[[4]](#cite-id-ql2f2p18ix)​