Mastercard’s NFT Lead Quits Role In Style

The NFT product lead at Mastercard company, Satvik Sethi, has stepped down, claiming that the platform had neglected him. Satvik’s quitting can be articulated as ‘stylish’ as he chose to mint his resignation letter from the global payments company as an NFT.

I have resigned from @Mastercard.

For the past year, I served as the ‘NFT Product Lead.’ I evangelized Web3 for Mastercard leadership & regional teams, as well as all our Fortune 500 clients & partners.

This wasn’t easy but read on for why it was necessary, and what’s next 🧵: pic.twitter.com/kqiavsSIW7

— Satvik Sethi (@sxtvik) February 2, 2023

Satvik worked for the Mastercard platform as an NFT product lead for the past two years. However, he gave reasons to call it quits in a series of tweets.

At Mastercard, I was a victim of harassment and emotional distress caused by mismanaged processes, miscommunication, and internal inefficiency. There were months at a time when I wouldn’t receive my salary until I begged across the hierarchy for it, among other issues.

He further noted that despite his contract, he was informed by HR to serve three months so he wouldn’t resign. Sethi tried to fight back and notify the company of his conversation records. However, the platform locked and disabled all his accounts, denying him access to ideas he had spent months designing.

In his letter to Mastercard leadership, Satvik stipulated:

 As you are all aware, I am incredibly passionate about Web3, and that passion is what led me to my current role in 2021. I have long been fascinated by the potential of Web3 to change the world for the better. Now more than ever is the right time to fully immerse me in this space through ventures, my art, and my industry knowledge.

Notably, Sethi minted his resignation letter as an open-edition NFT via digital collectibles protocol Manifold. He noted that 100% of the proceeds “go to survival. This isn’t gambling money.” The “New Beginnings” project is priced at 0.023 ETH (about $38) each. However, Sethi has decided to devote his attention to building his Web3 social networking and community-building site, Joincircle.

The web3-focused firm, Joincircle, founded by Sethi, has over 90,000 sign-ups, 35+ partner communities, and 300,000+ potential users waiting for the ultimate social platform.

He further stipulated:

I am focusing on my art this year. I’ve been creating since I was a kid; it’s been the biggest constant in my life. I am passionate and serious about it. I will prove it through many mediums and activations this year.

Along with this, I’m focusing on my art this year. I’ve been creating since I was a kid, it’s been the biggest constant in my life. I am passionate & serious about it & this year I will prove it through many mediums & activations. Continue to watch me get where I wasn’t allowed. pic.twitter.com/WqS2Vyc07K

— Satvik Sethi (@sxtvik) February 2, 2023

Mastercard Roars in Crypto Space

However, Mastercard firm has thrived in the crypto space in previous years. It has embraced cryptocurrency payments as well as NFT transactions. In June 2022, the company teamed up with various NFT marketplaces to make payments over its network easier and safer for NFT purchases. Mastercard partnered with multiple companies, including Candy Digital, Immutable X, Mintable, Spring, The Sandbox, and Nifty Gateway. The partnership enabled individuals to purchase NFTs without buying cryptocurrency as an intermediate step.

On January 2022, the payment giant partnered with Coinbase to offer crypto-related services to users. According to a blog post by Coinbase, it asserted that:

We are working with Mastercard to classify NFTs as digital goods, allowing a significant group of consumers to purchase NFTs. Soon, we will unlock a new way to pay using Mastercard cards. We will be able to facilitate a better customer experience on Coinbase NFT.

Apart from Coinbase, the platform partnered with the leading crypto exchange Binance to launch a prepaid crypto card in Brazil. The exchange blog post asserted that the card would be available to all Binance users in the country with a valid national ID. It will also enable them to make payments and pay bills with 13 cryptocurrencies, including ether, Binance USD, and Bitcoin. The president of Mastercard in Brazil, Marcelo Tangioni, noted during a press release that:

The Brazilians are eager to use cryptocurrency beyond an investment asset.

In August, Binance made similar announcements in Argentina and also in partnership with MasterCard. The company launched a similar offering in the European Economic Area in 2020.

The payment giant also worked with Polygon to launch an artist accelerator that enables participants to mint NFTs. Last year, the firm partnered with the crypto app Hi to offer a customizable debit card featuring an NFT avatar.

However, concerning Sethi’s departure, Mastercard is yet to make any comments.

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