A Thank-You Note to Gary Gensler? You Bet.

Finally, Gensler could have taken the court literally: Since the court objected to the SEC’s rejection of spot ETFs following approval of the futures ETFs, the SEC could have pulled the futures ETFs off the market — essentially telling the crypto community that you’ll get neither instead of both.

But Gary Gensler chose not to pursue those paths. Instead, he followed the rule of law. And it is for this reason that I give him my praise, compliments and thanks.

America operates under the rule of law, and has since our independence in 1776. The rule of law separates us from most other countries — and if you need any evidence, just try driving in some of them.

Gary Gensler and I may disagree strongly with the court, but he recognizes the important of our nation’s checks-and-balances system. This democratic approach to government is what has made America the greatest country in the world.

The legislative branch writes laws; the executive branch can veto them, and the legislative branch can override the veto — and the judiciary can nullify laws that are unconstitutional. This system preserves our republic and our liberty. So although Gary Gensler strongly disagreed with the court, and has made clear he dislikes spot bitcoin ETFs (he warned investors against using them), he recognized that he isn’t above the court.

Thus, he complied with the order, and he approved the spot bitcoin ETF applications — all 11 of them. He may have done it while kicking and screaming, holding his breath and stomping his feet, but he did it.

In other words, Gary Gensler did what a statesman would do. And this is a cause for congratulations and celebrations.

Oh, I’m sure Gary and I aren’t done arguing. We don’t agree about the need for crypto regulation, for example. We’ll continue to disagree, but we’ll do so within the rule of law. It sometimes takes statesmanship to uphold that rule, and Gary Gensler just showed us what a statesman looks like.

Thank you, Gary Gensler.

Ric Edelman is an author and founder of the RIA Edelman Financial Engines (earlier Edelman Financial Services). He now leads the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals.

Pictured: Ric Edelman