I don't understand how they can waste money like that. Wouldn't it have been the same if they get to pay $1K instead of $100K? I don't see the logic of it, unless they want to advertise with me and I can see that they have plenty of money but the advertising has been a bit expensive.
Although I see in the tweet they say they have “teamed up” with Gemini. I don't know, it still seems like too much money to me.
I agree with you that this is more of a foolish move than an ideal way to promote a brand or market anything. The amount may not be significant for large corporations, but it is indeed a huge sum compared to the anticipated goals. The same amount could have been given to charities as part of a bounty campaign or to new startups, i.e., to encourage innovation and useful initiatives. There are a thousand other ways to use the money and generate returns.
Another possibility occurred to my brain: if miners can confirm the transactions they broadcast themselves, couldn't this be part of an agreement between the company issuing the transaction and the mining party? I still find it absurd that someone would do this, unless it was a human error, which I completely rule out in this case.