What Does HODL Mean? An Overview of the Top Crypto Trading Strategy

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HODLing is an easier and more rational method to take when investing in blockchain projects. Value investors such as Warren Buffett use this strategy when investing whereby they identify undervalued companies, buy the stocks cheap and hold them for several years. The idea is that the value of the stocks would have risen considerably within this period. Others say HODL until your coin becomes a fully spendable currency and you won’t need to worry about having to sell it back anymore. The risk here is that not all coins are created equal, and no one can guarantee the future of any crypto and its ability to become a full-fledged currency. This is especially true with all the new Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) that many governments around the world are developing.

Other Crypto Slang Terms

It doesn’t matter which cryptocurrency is in your portfolio, as long as you hold it for a few years (or more) before selling. The misspelled “HODL” quickly circulated among the crypto community, and soon after turned into an internet slang to indicate when a person holds bitcoin rather than selling it. Use of the term was later extended to include other cryptocurrencies.

• Keeping assets in a “cold” hardware wallet, like a USB drive, prevents hacking and theft— and unlike a centralized exchange, it’s completely offline.
• In that case, it’s challenging to HODL through market downturns—particularly because cryptocurrencies are among the most volatile and speculative asset classes.
• When the markets are unstable, HODLing can be a strategy to consider.
• Brokerage services for alternative assets available on Public are offered by Dalmore Group, LLC (“Dalmore”), member of FINRA & SIPC.
• Without surveillance from a central authority, cryptocurrencies can be used for fraudulent activities, such as illegal transactions and money laundering.

This is important as it can help spur adoption of crypto as a payment method. Meanwhile, BUIDL encourages people to roll up their sleeves and build decentralised applications, platforms and tools that improve the crypto ecosystem. The term HODL began as an accidental (beverage induced) misspelling hexn.io of ‘hold’. He is also a staff writer at Benzinga, where he has reported on breaking financial market news and analyst commentary related to popular stocks since 2014. Mr. Duggan is also the author of the book “Beating Wall Street With Common Sense” and has contributed news and analysis to U.S.

How hodl works

U.S. Treasuries (“T-Bill”) investing services on the Public Platform are offered by Jiko Securities, Inc. (“JSI”), a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA & SIPC. When you enable T-Bill investing on the Public platform, you open a separate brokerage account with JSI (the “Treasury Account”). SPEDN encourages people to use cryptocurrencies in the real world to buy goods and services, or simply to pay their bills with crypto.

• T-bills are subject to price change and availability – yield is subject to change.
• Bitcoin’s extreme volatility has produced a handful of horrendous annual returns throughout the years.
• Today we are going to talk about what hodl is and what are the advantages that this strategy can bring.

The original crypto plunged to $4,000 before ending the year around $29,000. Indeed, the original HODLer in 2013 had no illusions about their ability to play the market. But the post conveyed a confidence that time would improve Bitcoin’s fortunes. We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence. HODL ($HODL) is a cryptocurrency that was named based on the popularity of “HODL” as an expression in the crypto community.

HODL and Bitcoin

Disclaimer – Information found on our website is not a recommendation or financial advice. Our website and marketing collateral use reference rates as an indicator only and should not be used for decision making. HODL may not be the right approach for every crypto investor and every cryptocurrency.

• The utility of HODLing, like any investment strategy, has its limits.
• The latter is the oldest and largest cryptocurrency by network value and Ethereum’s market cap has trailed Bitcoin’s for several years.
• If you see the value dipping or surging before your eyes, it can be easy to think that you need to buy more or sell the fucking lot, but you can just breathe…and hold…and hope it all steadies out in your favour.
• When Bitcoin’s price slumped in late 2013, user “GameKyuubi” wrote a post called “I AM HODLING” on the crypto forum Bitcointalk.

Premium users get access to guidance from expert analysts, as well as data from Morningstar’s industry-leading reports. When deciding whether to HODL, consider your own investment strategy and goals, as well as your risk tolerance. Bitcoin investors were taking to forums like Bitcointalk to share their fears and encourage each other to stay the course.

Why do people in crypto love to HODL their coins?

HODL, or “Hold On for Dear Life,” is now a widely known concept in the crypto community that refers to the strategy of not selling your digital assets, even amid extreme price changes in the market. And given Bitcoin’s latest bout of volatility, HODL remains relevant a decade later in 2023. It is used in the crypto ecosystem to refer to a strategy of holding onto bitcoin holdings through its various price fluctuations and volatility. The acronym is a misspelling of the word “holding” by a user on an online forum. Typically used by Bitcoin maximalists, a HODLing strategy is similar to the conventional buy-and-hold investing strategy. HODL may also refer to the HODL token on cryptocurrency exchange Binance’s Smart Chain.

• Founded in 1993 by brothers Tom and David Gardner, The Motley Fool helps millions of people attain financial freedom through our website, podcasts, books, newspaper column, radio show, and premium investing services.
• Similarly, you can hold a cryptocurrency for an indefinite length of time, through multiple price changes, because you believe that the coin will do well in the future.
• Today, Bitcoin prices are also down 59% in 2022 as rising interest rates have triggered a sell-off in cryptocurrencies and other risk-on assets.
• This is not an offer, solicitation of an offer, or advice to buy or sell securities or open a brokerage account in any jurisdiction where Open to the Public Investing is not registered.
• Crypto forums may preach the benefits of HODLing, but there isn’t definitive proof that it works for crypto investments in the same way it has traditionally worked for the stock market.

Decentralization is the major feature and advantage of cryptocurrency, as it is not issued by a central authority such as a country’s central bank. The misspelled term “HODL” circulated quickly in the forum and spread to other cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency investors use the term to refer to buy-and-holding assets for a longer time horizon rather than making frequent trades. “HODL” is a term that is often used in the Bitcoin investment community. It is a misspelling of “hold,” with an interesting story behind it. It is not only a popular term but is also considered an investment strategy.

Origin of HODL:

Blind faith in a product or idea might seem like a poor quality for an investor — like somebody refusing to sell shares of Blockbuster when Netflix was first on the rise. But according to financial planners and analysts, it’s also a rational response to a market whose ups and downs are exceedingly difficult to predict. HODL was later retrofitted to be an acronym (backronym) for “Hold On for Dear Life” and refers to not selling, even during strong market volatility and poor market performance.

HODL: The Cryptocurrency Strategy of “Hold on for Dear Life” Explained

HODLing might not be the best strategy if the investor is looking for short-term gains. Even though traders don’t often sell their positions at the absolute peak (because they cannot predict it), HODLing over time generally will give you positive returns. Even if you bought in late 2017 at $19,000 and sold in early 2021 at $40,000, you would have had a 110% increase on your investment.

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While staking crypto could increase your gains over time, it’s riskier than holding coins in a hardware wallet. When Bitcoin’s price slumped in late 2013, user “GameKyuubi” wrote a post called “I AM HODLING” on the crypto forum Bitcointalk. In this thread, GameKyuubi advocated for amateur investors to hold their Bitcoin (BTC) positions as the coin’s value declined rather than day trading or panic selling. Each investor should make a decision based on their goals and risk tolerance. If you’re uncertain about your ability to play the market or want a long-term investing strategy, HODLing may be right for you. In fact, the HODL strategy was originally known as the buy-and-hold strategy, and is used in many investment areas, including the stock market.

Where did the term “HODL” come from?

As a result, hodlers are theoretically safe from some trading tendencies, be it buying at a high price or selling at a low price (the latter is also known as “SODL” – a less commonly used term derived from “HODL”). HODL is an investing strategy in which individuals purchase cryptocurrencies and hold them for a long period of time. This allows investors to take advantage of an increase in the value of the asset. Someone adopting a HODL strategy isn’t trying to time the market, and they aren’t going to sell their investments when they think the market might dip. Brokerage services for alternative assets available on Public are offered by Dalmore Group, LLC (“Dalmore”), member of FINRA & SIPC. “Alternative assets,” as the term is used at Public, are equity securities that have been issued pursuant to Regulation A of the Securities Act of 1933 (as amended) (“Regulation A”).

This form of ledger technology is what’s behind cryptocurrencies and other tech trends. Avoiding the urge to give in to fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) is one of the hardest barriers to overcome. HODLing forces you to think about the long-term benefits of your strategy.

You will need to pay capital gains tax in Australia if you buy cryptocurrency and later sell or exchange it at a higher price — a crypto tax Australia. While Wall Street executives make long-term investments and Wall Street Bets traders have diamond hands. HODL culture has been a major help to long-term investors in Bitcoin and other top cryptocurrencies. But critics of HODL culture point out that the mindset only works if the value of cryptocurrencies continues to trend higher over the long term. Once-popular altcoins like OneCoin, BitConnect and TerraUSD are just three examples of cryptos that failed, generating a near-complete loss for any investors who employed the HODL strategy. The HODL community encourages other investors not to cash out of their crypto when prices rise and not to throw in the towel when crypto prices fall.

The main difference is that HODLing often involves the support of a community on a crypto forum, which encourages investors to wait out rough periods in the market. The buy-and-hold strategy, on the other hand, has no social component. Today, Bitcoin prices are also down 59% in 2022 as rising interest rates have triggered a sell-off in cryptocurrencies and other risk-on assets.

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HODL has since become a strategy used by people who admit they do not have the skills to do short-term trades – such as scalping, day trading, or swing trading. The term HODL has also inspired the creation of a similar term often, BUIDL, which is commonly used by the cryptocurrency community to refer to the many kinds of applications that are being built within the blockchain industry. Even though the word started out as a meme, it has become widely accepted in investing jargon as a word for holding cryptocurrencies with so-called diamond hands, a refusal to sell no matter what happens to prices. Cryptocurrencies are considered to be highly volatile assets, and it’s not unusual to see daily price changes of 20+% in either direction.

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After all, there’s a lot of crossover between these investment strategies. Investors who are concerned about losing a hardware wallet or can’t afford a high-quality cold wallet can choose to keep their assets on a centralized exchange, if they are comfortable with counterparty risk. As with any investment strategy, there are benefits and drawbacks to the HODL technique. “FUD,” “to the moon,” “DYOR”—there are so many industry-specific colloquialisms that newbies to the market could benefit from a crypto-specific dictionary.