HODL

What is HODL?

HODL is a term that came about from a misspelling of the word “hold.”

Over time, it has become an acronym that stands for “hold on for dear life.” In other words, to HODL means to buy and hold cryptocurrency permanently or semi-permanently.

The Long Definition

HODL is a slang term crypto investors use to describe the action of buying and holding cryptocurrency with little to no intention of selling. It is said to stand for “hold on for dear life,” and is a core belief among long-term investors.

The term HODL originated from an online forum post by user GameKyuubi in 2013. At this time, Bitcoin’s price was volatile and cryptocurrency was not well known by the general public. Many investors had no idea whether to keep their Bitcoin or sell it.

So, at 10:03 a.m. on December 18th, GameKyuubi drunkenly made a post on the talk forum Bitcointalk. In his post, he admitted that he was a poor investor, but that he would be “HODLing” his Bitcoin no matter what.

In response to the comments on his post about his typo, he responded:

“I type d that tyitle twice because I knew it was wrong the first time. Still wrong. w/e, WHY AM I HOLDING? I’LL TELL YOU WHY. It’s because I’m a bad trader and I KNOW I’M A BAD TRADER. Yeah you good traders can spot the highs and the lows pit pat piffy wing wong wang just like that and make a millino bucks sure no problem bro.

He believed that only day traders and “illusioned noobs” sold in a bear market. According to him, everyone else was supposed to hold.

Within an hour, the term “HODL” had become a popular internet meme. Over the next several months, it would become the normal way for cryptocurrency owners to describe their decision about holding on to their investment when prices rise and fall.

The HODL Coin

For the sake of clarity, it’s important to know that there is a crypto coin called HODL. This coin is based on the popular expression and operates using the Binance Smart Chain. Because of this, HODL token holders can earn Binance rewards.

HODLing as an Investment Strategy

For long-term and brand-new cryptocurrency investors, HODLing has become a serious strategy. Doing this mirrors GameKyuubi’s original intent, which was to avoid trying to time the market if you didn’t know what you were doing.

Essentially, Kyuubi believed that novice traders were much more likely to fail at timing the market properly and lose more than they were to succeed and make a profit. So, it makes more sense for them to hold (or HODL) onto their coin.

For long-term and serious investors, however, HODLing is more of a way to fight FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and other negative, profit-squashing emotions.

Furthermore, HODLing is believed to be an investment strategy for those who believe cryptocurrency will eventually replace fiat (government-issued) money.