What Is HODL?
Also known as: Hold On for Dear Life, Hodling, Hodler, HODLing
In short
HODL is a community term for the approach of holding cryptocurrencies for a long time regardless of price fluctuations; it originated from a misspelling of the word “hold” in a forum post in 2013.
The term emerged in December 2013, while the Bitcoin price was falling sharply, from a message titled “I AM HODLING” by a user on the Bitcointalk forum. The user wrote that he was not a good trader and would hold what he had instead of selling. The typo quickly became an internet joke and then a lasting part of crypto culture. The widely known expansion “Hold On for Dear Life” is an interpretation invented afterward (a backronym).
As an investment approach, HODL advocates long-term holding instead of short-term trading. Those who adopt this approach cite the difficulty of market timing and the fee and tax costs of trading frequently. The amount of coins that have not moved for a long time is tracked in on-chain analysis with indicators such as “HODL waves.”
HODL is not a guarantee of returns: the value of assets held for a long time can also fall substantially, or projects can fail entirely. In addition, in long-term storage, issues such as self-custody and the security of the recovery phrase become important.
Last updated: · This content is for information purposes only and is not investment advice.