• Mastercard began its foray into NFTs in 2021, but has come under controversy as former NFT product lead Satvik Sethi made public allegations of workplace mistreatment.
• Sethi resigned and minted his resignation letter as an NFT, claiming that Mastercard had cut his salary package by 40% during the bear market and that he was harassed by management.
• 100% of the proceeds from Sethi’s NFT will go towards survival, as he will soon lose his British work visa and fallback to working in India.
Mastercard’s Foray Into NFTs
Payments tech firm Mastercard began its foray into non-fungible tokens (NFTs) sometime in 2021. However, this move has been met with some controversy following the resignation of its former NFT Product Lead Satvik Sethi, who made public allegations of workplace mistreatment against the payments giant.
Sethi’s Resignation & Minting of an NFT
In a dramatic move, Sethi resigned from Mastercard and minted his resignation letter as an NFT which can be bought for 0.023 ETH. He claims that while at Mastercard he experienced pay cuts – even having to take side jobs just to make ends meet – as well as harassment from management due to miscommunication and internal inefficiency. All proceeds from the sale of his resignation letter will go towards survival, since he is soon losing his British work visa and will have to fallback on working in India for the foreseeable future.
Mastercard’s Crypto Ambitions & Partnerships
Prior reports indicated that Mastercard has taken some proactive measures towards entering the crypto space by partnering with Coinbase and even acquiring digital asset analytics firm CipherTrace. Despite these ambitions however, employees are still facing issues such as pay cuts and mistreatment within their organization – something which needs to be addressed if they want to remain competitive within their industry.
Disclaimer
This article is provided for informational purposes only and should not be used or interpreted as legal advice, investment advice or other financial advice.
Conclusion
Satvik Sethi’s resignation shows how despite Mastercards‘ ambition to break into the crypto sphere through partnerships such Coinbase or acquisitions like CipherTrace, there are still instances where employees feel mistreated or unequally compensated within their own organization – a problem which needs addressing if they want maintain a competitive edge over others in their space