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

What does HODL mean?

HODLs stands for Hold On to Your Digital Assets. It is a term that refers to buying or holding Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. It is also used to signify “hold on for dear Life” by crypto investors.

This term was created from an online post in 2013 to the Bitcointalk forum. The price of bitcoin was volatile in 2013, rising to more than $950 at the start of December 2013. This is up from less than $130 in April 2013.

What is HODLING?

GameKyuubi, a Bitcointalk user, posted a drunken, semi-coherent, typoladen rant at 10:03 UTC on December 18. He was referring to GameKyuubi’s poor trading skills, and his determination to just hold onto his Bitcoins from then on.

GameKyubi concluded that holding was the best option. “You can only sell in a bear markets if you’re a good day trader, or an illusioned noob.” The rest of us are in between. The zero-sum game of this sort is where traders only can take your money if they sell. In a zero-sum game like this, traders can only take your money if you sell.

“HODL” became a meme in less than an hour. Initially, the memes referenced the epic battle movies 300 and Braveheart. However, there are now countless HODL memes that reference Game of Thrones’Hodor.

HODLING: A Strategy and Guiding Philosophy

HODL is an acronym that stands for “hold on to dear life” and has become a common phrase among crypto enthusiasts. It denotes a long-term approach cryptocurrency investment. This approach is similar to GameKyubi’s original post. It explains that novice traders are more likely to fail to predict the market and should just hold their coins.

HODLs is more than a strategy to control FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), FUD(Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) and other profit-eroding emotions. Long-term crypto HODLers are confident that cryptocurrencies will replace government-issued currency as the foundation of all economic structures. If that happens, crypto holders would lose all relevance to the exchange rates between fiat money and cryptocurrencies.

This HODL maximalist philosophy is best captured by a meme, as it is predictable. Neo, The Matrix, asks Morpheus: “What are your intentions, to convince me that I can trade my Bitcoin for millions of dollars someday?” Morpheus replies, “No Neo. I’m trying tell you that when your ready… you won’t have to.”

When is it OK to HODLs

These principles show that the best time to HODL now, forever, and always is the best. True believers would never let go of their tokens even if the markets crashed or became extremely volatile. HODLing is an ideology about the long-term prospects for blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies as well as the communities that have developed around them.

Crypto Slang Terms

Many acronyms and terms have been adopted by the crypto community, often with accompanying emoticons. These terms often overlap with those used in meme stocks forums and communities. These include:

• FUD: Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (fear, uncertainty and doubt): False headlines, misinformation, and dire predictions regarding crypto should be ignored.
• FOMO (fear of missing out). People who jump on bandwagon trades and buy into bubbles, rather than regretting not being able to take advantage of the next big thing.
• Diamond Hands: Extreme fortitude in HODLing even when markets crash
• Hold the Line: This battle cry encourages others to stand strong with diamond hands in the face volatility.
• Paper hands: This derogatory term is used to describe those who don’t keep their diamond hands. These people are seen as weak and unconcerned individuals who sell too much crypto.
• Mooning: This is the idea that a stock will soar to extraordinary heights, as if it were on the moon.
• Apes – Members of the crypto and NFT communities. While some have linked this to the movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes, others suggest that the label is a result of the grouping of “dumb” apes to fight the Wall Street elite.
• BTFD (buy the f***ing Dip): To buy the dips, you will need to take a position in a stock once its price has fallen in the near-term. This is done so that it can be repeated after each drawdown.
• YOLO (you only live once): Why not invest in a crypto token, NTF or other digital currency?

Are You able to HODLs Stocks

While HODLing is often associated with crypto investors, the buy and hold investing strategy it represents isn’t limited to cryptocurrency investing.

Stock investors often “HODL” their investments over long periods, even though stock prices are less volatile than crypto assets. Stock investors who buy and hold stocks can enjoy long-term price appreciation, but less volatility than cryptocurrencies.

The HODL Coin

HODL could also be used to refer to a DeFI token on Binance Smart Chain (BSC). HODL Coin (SHODL), was launched May 20, 2121. HODL, just like the name itself, encourages users not to lose their tokens in order to receive rewards in Binance coin (BNB). These rewards are given out every three days. Taxes are collected from transactions that users make, including the sale, purchase or transfer of HODL tokens. The tax amount is converted to BNB tokens, and a portion of the gains are redistributed from the collective liquidity pool.

What does it mean to HODL?

“HODL” was originally a misspelling for “HOLD” (written all caps) in an internet post by an early Bitcoin investor. However, “HODL” has become a popular term for crypto enthusiasts and means “hold on for dear Life”. Like buy-and-hold stock traders, crypto HODLers pride themselves on not selling their cryptocurrency no matter what happens in crypto markets.

Who Was the First to Say HODL?

It is not known who the original inadvertent coiner of “HODL” is. The original spelling error was made by GameKyuubi, a user on Bitcointalk.org. It occurred at 10:03 a.m. UT on December 18, 2013.

What is the difference between a Buy-and Hold Strategy and HODL?

It doesn’t make a difference whether you are HODLing a crypto or a buy-and hold strategy. If you are confident in the company’s future success, you can HODLs a stock despite its volatility. You can also hold a cryptocurrency indefinitely, despite multiple price fluctuations, because you believe the coin will succeed in the future.

What is the HODL Coin?

HODL ($HODL), a cryptocurrency, was named after the popular expression “HODL” in the crypto community. Binance Smart Chain is used to operate the HODL token, and HODL token holders can receive Binance Coin rewards.

The bottom line

HODL stands for “Hold on for dear life”. The acronym HODL is used to describe a strategy to hold onto bitcoin holdings despite fluctuations in price and volatility. An online user may have misspelled the word “holding” in order to create this acronym. Usually used by Bitcoin maximalists, a HODLing approach is very similar to traditional buy-and-hold investing strategies. HODL can also be used to refer to the HODLs token found on cryptocurrency exchange Binance’s Smart Chain. Depositing tokens into a liquidity pool can help users earn Binance coin rewards.