I'm going to try and get my employer to pay for it either way.
I'd say that depends on what you want to get out of it.
I have a couple of verified certificates. I haven't had the chance to put them on a resume yet, but I fully intend to for a number of reasons. I'm already pretty well established in my career, I believe in what these programs are doing and I'm plainly proud of my accomplishment.
That said, I expect people will look at them the same way they do technology certifications or most degrees - worthless.
I understand where they're coming from as we've all encountered incompetent people with such credentials, but I think it's a bit unfair to toss these certificates in the same bin.
Reason being, these certificates have no established value.
Logically and anecdotally, people sign up for these courses because they want to learn something. If someones goal is scamming their way into a job they'd be better served by shopping at a diploma mill than slogging through an edX course.
It's an interesting problem.
How do you popularize these courses while establishing and retaining value for them - goals which are to some degree at odds with each other.
+ Gaining additional motivation.
+ Someone requiring it.
+ Adding formal credentials to a CV.
+ Supporting the institution, because you can.
+ Confirming the accomplishment.
All are valid reasons, and in a particular person's unique circumstances each may have great value. There's no universal benefits or detriments.