Followers of the Ethereum Classic Twitter account may have found themselves the unintended fans of an entirely new crypto project after Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson turned the account into the new community page for the Ergo community.

The Ethereum Classic account had built up over 600,000 followers since its inception in July 2016, and up until Sept. 15, it has been used to post about Ethereum Classic.

As of Oct. 6, however, the Twitter page now reflects the Ergo Platform, a proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain capable of facilitating smart contracts, similar to Ethereum, with links to Cardano.

In a lengthy thread pinned on Ethereum Classic’s new Twitter handle on Oct. 6, Bob Summerwill, the executive director of a public charity supporting Ethereum Classic, pointed the finger at Hoskinson for repurposing the account, noting that “6 years of community work has been erased.”

The new handle is yet to reach the follower numbers of its old account, with only 364 followers at the time of writing.

In the thread, Summerwill outlines how Hoskinson’s blockchain company Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK) withdrew from the ETC for a second time following a lack of support for a proposal of his and refused to talk about the Twitter account until a Sep. 6 Twitter post where he declared he would not be returning it to the ETC community.

The move by Hoskinson has essentially boosted the Twitter followers of the Ergo Platform, which has the old handle of ergoplatformorg with only 64,000 followers. The Ergo account holder has even directed its followers to its “new account” Ergo_Platform.

Related: Cardano bulls run out of steam after Vasil hard fork — 40% ADA price crash in play

Issues between Hoskinson and his former project are not new, with Hoskinson being well known for his dislike of Ethereum and going as far as calling Ethereum Classic a “dead project with no purpose.”

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Increasing interest in the Metaverse has been seen as a reason for Decentraland MANA $0.3169 and memecoin Shiba Inu's (SHIB) outpaced growth on retail trading platform eToro over the past 12 months.

In an Oct. 7 report shared with Cointelegraph, eToro stated that MANA and SHIB saw the biggest year-on-year surge in hodlers in the most recent quarter, rising 437% and 269% apiece compared to Q3 2021.

Other notable hodler increases on the eToro platform included Enjin (ENJ), Polygon MATIC $0.3735 , and Basic Attention Token (BAT) with increases of 229%, 107% and 107%, respectively. 

eToro crypto market analyst Simon Peters said that the rise of MANA in particular suggests the Metaverse has become a key theme of the crypto market this year despite the bear market:

“The Metaverse has been a major new frontier and that is reflected in the exponential growth in open positions of MANA. Although crypto markets have been difficult in recent months, the fastest risers indicate real interest in some of the most innovative projects in the past year.”

It is also worth noting that while the beloved SHIB is primarily a memecoin, the dog-inspired cryptocurrency gained a new use case in May 2022, allowing hodlers to use the crypto to purchase land in the Shiba metaverse.

The crypto is also involved in an upcoming mobile nonfungible token (NFT) game called Shiba Eternity, which will be available on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, and will be compatible with its Shiboshi NFTs.

However, while the two Metaverse-linked tokens saw gains, eToro’s report noted that the top 10 most-held assets on the platform remain unchanged over the last 12 months.

Bitcoin BTC $76,312 , Cardano ADA $0.4406 and Ether ETH $3,036.53 take the top three spots, while SHIB is ranked sixth and MANA is ranked tenth.

Related: The feds are coming for the metaverse, from Axie Infinity to Bored Apes

The uptick in Decentraland’s MANA token comes despite Decentraland catalyst nodes monitor on GitHub showing only 467 people online using the platform at the time of writing, while people in the crypto community on Twitter noted there were around 500 yesterday also.

The figures seem low, considering MANA has a market cap of $1.2 billion.

Data from DCL Metrics lists the number of unique visitors to Decentraland at 7,871 as of Oct. 6, which is the highest number so far this month. However, this figure pales in comparison to the 18,000 daily users Decentraland co-founder Ari Meilich, reported back in December 2021.

MANA is currently the forty-sixth largest crypto asset in terms of market capitalization, according to CoinGecko, and its price is down 88.1% to $0.69 since its all-time high of $5.85 on Nov. 25, 2021. Over the past 24 hours, $115.3 million worth of MANA has changed hands.

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Web3 engagement platform Belong is organizing a scavenger hunt to complement the excitement and hype surrounding Devcon Week in Bangkok.

Anticipation is electric among Web3 and blockchain enthusiasts as Devcon, “the Ethereum conference for developers, thinkers and makers,” is set to kick off. Held from Nov. 12 to 15, Devcon Southeast Asia 2024 promises to be a milestone for blockchain, Web3 and artificial intelligence, drawing global developers, innovators and enthusiasts to the vibrant and dynamic backdrop of Bangkok, Thailand.

Alongside Devcon’s packed schedule, attendees will find no shortage of networking events, parties and exclusive gatherings throughout the city. To help navigate the 740+ events taking place, Cointelegraph Accelerator participant Belong has crafted a curated guide to the most anticipated events of Devcon Week. From building connections to enjoying the energy, this guide aims to help visitors make the most of their Devcon experience.

Scavenger Hunt to add a fun twist to networking

At the heart of this guide is a unique Scavenger Hunt designed to enhance the experience and interaction for attendees. The Bangkok Tech & Crypto Week Scavenger Hunt, powered by gasless non-fungible tokens (NFTs) from Belong, invites participants to explore the city and collect digital keepsakes along the way. Participants can gather exclusive NFTs by attending key partner events, scanning QR codes at select locations and completing a full collection for a special prize reveal.

The Hunt is simple: tap your phone or scan the QR code found on the NFC stations set up at various events. Scanning these with a smartphone camera opens the Belong app (or a browser option) on which participants can instantly claim gasless NFTs. Downloading the Belong app offers visitors access to the map of all events and claims based on geolocation. The NFTs accumulate as attendees explore more events, and those who collect all items will unlock a secret prize, along with an additional token airdrop from Belong. It’s an interactive way to engage with Bangkok’s blockchain community and make memories through digital collectibles.

Belong’s top picks for Devcon 2024

Here’s a glimpse of Belong’s top picks for networking events and parties for attendees to check out. Check out this blog post to get the full list of top events to look out for during Devcon Week.

Events from Nov. 10

• Welcome To Bangkok

Events from Nov. 11

• All Time High Rooftop Party
• Azuki x Arbitrum
• sub0 closing party with OpenGuild
• CypheRave
• Chain Fusion Tribe Night
• Web3 Social x AI Immersion

Events from Nov. 12

• Rooftop Drinks and Hors d’oeuvres with Wormhole
• Open #AI Launch Party - RSS3
• Novembull Party - Blum, Trust Wallet, Impossible Finance, DOGS
• Serotonin Full Moon Festival
• DeAI: The After Party
• Boys Night Out Bangkok with Space and Time & Harpie

Events from Nov. 13

• Agents Unleashed Bangkok
• The Best Event. DevCon BKK with TBV and BitcoinOS
• Builder Nights Bangkok - Presented by MetaMask, Linea, Safe, 1inch and Web3auth

Events from Nov. 14

• Ready Player Party
• rAIve the Night in Bangkok
• Zircuit x API3 Present Zircuit Tribe
• Degen Night at MUIN
• KOL Gathering: Bangkok Edition

These events promise a blend of learning, networking and unforgettable moments, providing a perfect balance of professional engagement and social connection.

Multi-platform Web3 engagement

Belong’s multi-platform Web3 service is tailored to enhance user engagement, making event discovery and participation seamless. With a user-friendly setup on iOS, Android and the web, Belong simplifies the process for Devcon attendees.

Users can log in with familiar platforms like Google or Apple, creating a non-custodial wallet without the usual setup complexities. Plus, the gasless NFT model ensures that users can claim collectibles easily without incurring additional fees.

As Devcon 2024 unfolds, Belong’s guide offers a streamlined way to experience the conference’s vibrant social landscape.