Stifel CEO sees `fire going on in confidence in crypto,' needs customer protection rule

Stifel Financial ( NYSE: SF ) CEO Ron Kruszewski believes that regulators need to institute the "customer protection rule" for crypto so that customers' funds aren't comingled. He wants the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to extend the customer protection rule, which has been around since the 1970s, to crypto, Kruszewski said in an interview on CNBC. Although the SEC may think they don't have jurisdiction over crypto firms, he believes they do. He argues that Congress should tell the SEC that they have the oversight. "There's a fire going in confidence in crypto," Kruszewski said. "We shouldn't be deciding which fire department needs to go. Let's get on this, get the customer protection rule in place." "You cannot comingle customer funds," Kruszewski said. "You cannot do what FTX did." Earlier Monday Bank of England Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe said a central bank-issued digital U.K. pound may be necessary to implement as the recent downfall of crypto exchange FTX sheds light on the need for further oversight of digital assets.