What does HODL mean in the cryptocurrency world and what are its advantages?

CAIZ MEDIUM
7 min readOct 27, 2022

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Hodl is a cryptocurrency name invented in December 2013 by an unidentified Bitcoin user. It was a mistake for the verb hold, which implies keeping coins rather than selling them.

Cryptocurrency fans now utilize the error as one of their favorite memes to boast about their winnings or to demonstrate support for their preferred coins.

There is no formal definition of Hodl. When the market is down, and you might be tempted to sell your coins at a loss, it is slang, meaning keeping them instead of selling them.

Hodl has sometimes been used as a substitute spelling for hold (the verb) or holds (the noun). However, Merriam-Webster dictionaries state that this is incorrect:

What does hodl imply, then? Simply said, it means to “hold your crypto” or “hang on for dear life.” This may be closely tied to investing in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies since, if someone encourages you to buy bitcoin, they may say, “hodl,” because they are aware that the price will ultimately rise and you will profit from it.

Why HODLing Is Important To Cryptocurrency:

It’s important to understand why HODLing is so significant for cryptocurrency.

There are many different viewpoints on what causes the volatility in the bitcoin market. Trading experts do agree that it can be challenging to time the market and enter and exit positions at the appropriate periods. The majority of traders are looking for solutions to reduce their risk when trading cryptocurrency because they have personally experienced this.

HODLing allows traders to avoid selling their positions while they wait for the market to stabilize or appreciate in value over time. It’s a risk-reduction strategy that enables you to keep your coins rather than selling them during times of significant volatility, especially if you think their value will rise over time.

HODLing is also advantageous for investors who desire long-term returns on their investments but lack the stomach for volatility in the short term. HODLing can prevent you from selling at market lows if you’re investing in cryptocurrencies as part of a long-term portfolio strategy.

To put it another way, HODLing enables you to keep onto your coins without worrying about reinvesting in them at a higher price point in the future. If you repurchase your positions after they have increased in value, there is no guarantee that they will do so going forward; their value could actually decrease dramatically as well as increase.

Therefore, even though there are no guarantees, HODLing is a crucial tactic for investors who wish to safeguard themselves against significant market dips as they wait for opportunities for long-term appreciation.

How Did The Phrase Hodl Become So Popular In The Crypto Community?

The history of how “hodl” came to be so well-known in the crypto culture began in December 2013. I AM HODLING was the subject of a post by GameKyuubi, an anonymous member, on the bitcointalk forum.

GameKyuubi writes in the article that he acquired bitcoin while intoxicated for about $300 apiece and that he is now unable to pay his rent because he cannot stand to sell the coins at their current value of about $150. He continues by saying that he will keep his investment.

The article soon gained traction in the neighborhood and has since been cited in several other blogs and online forums.

Other forum users’ responses to the topic were contradictory. Others criticized GameKyuubi for not selling his coins sooner when they were worth more money, while others favored him.

Since then, crypto enthusiasts have started using the term “hodl” to indicate their resolve to stay on their assets despite market volatility or even negative news about certain cryptocurrencies or exchanges.

Investors in bitcoin who wished to demonstrate their resolve to cling onto their assets despite price changes or other circumstances made fun of the misspelling as an inside joke.

As evidence that they were hanging onto their coins despite market circumstances, users would upload photos of themselves holding up signs with their misspellings of “HODL.”

Why HODL Works?

HODLing makes sense because there are two main risks involved with investing in cryptocurrency: volatility and regulation. The first danger is easy to see: if you spend $10 and sell the item for $4 two weeks later, you lose your money. Nevertheless, long-term risks associates with purchasing cryptocurrencies since their value could drastically alter over time due to circumstances beyond your control (such as regulation).

Locking in gains from short-term volatility and stopping yourself from selling at a loss, keeping onto your coins reduces those dangers. Even if you believe a currency is going up, it may still go down before you realize gains or losses.

This isn’t always achievable when trading or using leverage, but it’s far simpler to make choices when you’re not worried about losing money.

Since then, the word has a full-fledged movement with its subreddit, r/hodlcoin, where people support one another no matter what. This movement’s message is that you shouldn’t ever sell your cryptocurrencies since they will always appreciate in value over time, even if they first decline dramatically.

The Advantages Of Hodling:

The hodl meme has been a popular way to show how you are holding on to your cryptocurrency. It has also become a popular way for people to express their opinions on the market.

Here are some advantages of hodling your cryptos:

It Helps You Stay Calm During Market Fluctuations:

When you are a hodler, you don’t have to be concerned about your investment since you think it will be profitable in the long term. By adopting this approach, you may avoid selling out of fear during downturn markets or FUD campaigns. You may just unwind as you wait for better times!

It Helps Avoid FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out):

FOMO is the unreasonable fear of losing out on important things while someone else succeeds. Someone will always complain that they should have bought something when it was cheaper when prices rise. Somebody will always complain that they should have sold while the price was higher when the market drops.

Many people sell their coins at the worst possible time, frequently when they rapidly decline in value, out of fear of losing. This situation may be avoided by HODLing since there is never a good reason to sell a coin at any price if you believe in its future prosperity (unless you need cash urgently).

It Prevents Panic Selling:

Investors that immediately sell their shares out of fear of losing money are said to engage in panic selling. This may result in a further decline in coin value, prompting investors to sell more of their holdings out of fear.

HODLing can assist avoid this situation since you won’t panic sell even if prices briefly decline if you believe in the coin’s future worth and don’t want to do so.

It Gives You Peace Of Mind:

You’ll have more money if you hodl your coins and they increase in value than if you sold them while they were cheap or pricey!

If a currency appreciates more slowly than anticipated, it’s not always negative because it means you may acquire additional coins while they’re still affordable.

If you have the patience to hold onto your coins during imperfect markets (standard), your portfolio will eventually be worth far more than if you had sold them all at the peak.

You Can Reduce Risk By Diversifying Across Many Different Projects:

Hundreds of other ventures can make up for those losses, even if one or two fail miserably.

To avoid a single failure from wiping out your entire portfolio, it’s essential to diversify your investments among several initiatives and select winners.

Additionally, it’s crucial to diversify your holdings across various cryptocurrency kinds (such as utility tokens against security tokens), various exchange types (such as controlled versus decentralized exchanges), and even other nations where rules may vary (e.g., Switzerland vs the United States).

You Can Use Hodl As An Excuse For Losing Money On Bad Trades:

Many people lose money due to investing heavily just before a new cryptocurrency project pumps due to hype, only to have their investment significantly decline when the market corrects itself a few days later.

Even if you believe that project is no longer viable, you may prevent this by utilizing the hodl meme as a justification for not selling at a loss. Even if you cannot recover your initial investment, you won’t be continuously losing money as the market corrects itself.

In Conclusion:

Hodl is a term that describe holding your bitcoin without using it. It has a lot of traction in the cryptocurrency community, and today there are several videos and memes on it. The world is moving toward technological advancement.

If you were one of the first to join bitcoin, you are lucky since only you can experience the full impact of the increase in bitcoin values.

We can at least provide one little piece of advice if you’ve decided to enter the world of cryptocurrencies: never sell your coins. Hold them for as long as you can, hang coins, and watch for a sudden increase in value.

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CAIZ MEDIUM

CAIZ: Uniting tradition with fintech for ethical, secure & fiqh-compliant financial freedom.