Jeff Merkley is a United States Senator from Oregon who has been an advocate for cryptocurrency regulation. He was the first US senator to accept Bitcoin donations, and he has since accepted other digital currencies such as Ethereum and Dogecoin. In 2018, he introduced the Cryptocurrency Tax Fairness Act which would create regulations related to tax treatment of cryptocurrencies. Additionally, Merkley proposed two measures in 2019 that aimed to protect investors in Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) by requiring issuers of ICOs to register with the SEC and follow certain rules.
Merkley also co-sponsored a bill in 2020 that would require federal agencies to look into how blockchain technology could be used for government services like record keeping and data storage. This legislation aims at making government operations more secure and efficient through distributed ledger technology (DLT).
In addition to his work on virtual currency regulation, Merkley is known for advocating progressive policies such as supporting same-sex marriage rights and expanding renewable energy initiatives.
