I couldn't agree more. I've had the exact same experience and timeline as you've described.
Fiverr treats us like "assets". That's all we are to them. A critical flaw, in my view, is that Fiverr isn't raising the bar in terms of quality, but rather in terms of who can best survive intense pressure.
I've watched multiple sellers go from being highly successful, even some poster boys/girls of Fiverr,, to openly discussing the mental and physical health issues caused by Fiverr and its gamification strategies.
This includes mental health problems like hallucinations, anxiety, and fatigue, as well as physical issues like autoimmune disorders, hypertension, and exacerbated symptoms of existing conditions.
When the same illness prevents someone from being at their absolute best and most competitive, even for a few days, that's enough to permanently derail their career on Fiverr, regardless of the years they've spent striving to stay on top.
The truth is, if a Western company treated their "employees" this way, it would make headlines. It has — just look at Amazon, or gig economy giants like Uber and JustEat.
But since we're just part of the gig economy, Fiverr manages to get away with treating us like garbage.
Bonus points on their ESG if they host a mental health webinar and tell us our mental health matters. It doesn't.